Dame's Home, Ja's Here, and the Lights Come On
Opening night at Moda: the starting-five tug of war, Avdija's ankle, the Suns' secret center, a 2.5-point line and an arena fight that won't wait.
Tonight, finally
Suns at Blazers, 7 p.m. PT, Moda Center. It's on KUNP/Rip City TV Network and streaming on BlazerVision. Both teams are 0-0, and it's the first game of the 2026-27 season for each of them.
It's Damian Lillard's first regular-season home game as a Blazer since March 17, 2023. He's 36, he missed all of last season after tearing his Achilles in the 2025 playoffs with Milwaukee, and he ranks fifth in NBA history with 2,804 threes, per Reuters. He also needs 624 points to become the first player to score 20,000 regular-season points in a Portland uniform.
Ja Morant makes his Blazers debut too. He's 27 and a two-time All-Star, but Reuters notes he has played just 79 games over the last three seasons because of injuries and suspensions. Memphis sent him here for a package that included Jerami Grant and Kris Murray.
Uniforms
NBA LockerVision lists Portland in the white Association Edition, with the black BLAZERS wordmark and the red-and-black diagonal stripe. Phoenix wears its black Statement Edition, with a silver PHOENIX wordmark, white numbers and purple-and-orange trim. Our drawings of both are on the Uniforms page.
Who starts? Still a split
Unresolved Reuters reports that Micah Nori will start both Lillard and Morant, with Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan, and Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson coming off the bench. The Oregonian expects the same five, and Blazers On SI's Elias Esquivel projects the group that started the preseason finale at Golden State.
Rumor Marc J. Spears of Andscape still reports that Morant is expected to come off the bench because of the backcourt logjam, and TSN repeated that this morning. Two outlets say he starts and one says he doesn't. We'll know at tip.
Nori doesn't seem to care much either way. "Regardless of how we start, I'm more concerned of the combinations throughout it," he told reporters, per Reuters. "(The lineup) gives you a facilitator in Ja that's looking to push pace and use him as a secondary scorer. Obviously, you have the scoring ability of Dame and it allows Deni to get as many touches that he needs to be efficient."
Rotation notes
The Oregonian says Nori will open with ten men. That's the starting five plus Holiday, Henderson, Sidy Cissoko, Robert Williams III and Vit Krejci, with Micah Potter, Branden Carlson and Yang Hansen getting spot minutes. Nori wants short shifts, as short as three minutes. Williams didn't play back-to-backs last season, so his minutes will depend on the schedule.
Holiday sat out the preseason finale with a swollen right hand, but Nori said Sunday an X-ray showed "nothing was broke." Camara set the bar in camp, per The Oregonian: 50-plus wins and home court in the playoffs.
Nori's scouting report on Phoenix, via Blazers On SI: "They're going to provide a lot of ball pressure, especially with that second unit with (Collin) Gillespie and with (Jordan) Goodwin, and it's going to be a good test for us because they are a team that crashes the offensive glass. We're going to have to rebound and we have to take care of (the ball)."
That fits with what Robert Williams III said yesterday about needing to rebound.
Injury report
Confirmed This is from the official NBA injury report for Oct. 21.
Blazers: Deni Avdija is QUESTIONABLE with right ankle soreness, and Micah Potter is QUESTIONABLE with an illness. Shaedon Sharpe is OUT after right meniscus surgery, and ESPN lists his estimated return as early March. Branden Carlson is OUT in concussion protocol, and Chris Youngblood is OUT with left ankle soreness.
Suns: Luke Kennard is QUESTIONABLE with left knee tendinopathy, but Jordan Ott said he's on track to play, per Kellan Olson of Arizona Sports. Mark Williams is OUT after surgery on a torn labrum in his left shoulder, and ESPN estimates he returns in early February.
The Avdija decision matters most tonight. The Oregonian's betting model assumes he plays, and if he can't, Holiday is the natural fit at forward.
The Suns
Phoenix went 45-37 last season, lost to Portland in the play-in at its own building, fell to the eighth seed and was swept by Oklahoma City. Blazers On SI projects Jalen Green, Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Miles Bridges and Oso Ighodaro as the starters.
Ott still hasn't named his center. Kellan Olson calls Ighodaro the most likely choice, with rookie Khaman Maluach behind him. There's a catch: Ighodaro has shot 49% at the line through two seasons, so expect Portland to at least think about intentional fouls late in a close game.
Booker begins his 12th season. He turns 30 on Oct. 30, is the franchise's all-time leading scorer with 18,120 points, and averaged 26.1 last season. Brooks set a career high last season at 20.2 a game. Off the bench, Phoenix has Gillespie, Kennard, Goodwin, Ryan Dunn and Maluach.
Booker, to The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin, on criticism: "That's part of the game. You learn how to compartmentalize it."
The number
DraftKings has Portland -2.5 (-110), with a total of 231.5 and the moneyline at Blazers -142 / Suns +120, per The Oregonian's betting desk. FanDuel matches it. BetMGM's board went to Blazers -3.5 with a total of 232.5. The Oregonian's simulation projects Portland 117, Phoenix 114, and gives the Blazers a 60.4% chance to win.
Keys to the game
1. The glass. Phoenix crashes the offensive boards, and Portland's backcourt is small, with Lillard and Morant both listed at 6-2. Clingan and Williams have to clean up the misses.
2. Hide the guards on defense. Booker and Green will go after the small backcourt. Use Camara, Cissoko and Holiday as the stoppers, and make sure drives end up at Clingan.
3. Turnovers. Nori is expecting second-unit pressure from Gillespie and Goodwin, and new lineups make sloppy passes. Short shifts only help if the ball stays secure.
4. The free-throw line. If Ighodaro starts and closes, Phoenix gives Portland a hack-a target late in a close game.
Around the West
Everyone is still 0-0 except the six teams that played Tuesday's tripleheader. Oklahoma City won 116-104 at San Antonio in the rematch of last spring's conference finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32, and Jared McCain added 20 on 6-of-8 from three. Victor Wembanyama had 12 points on 1-of-13 shooting, plus six blocks, per ESPN. De'Aaron Fox picked up a Flagrant 1 for throwing Chet Holmgren to the floor, and the scuffle that followed brought four technicals. The Thunder are 1-0, and the Spurs are 0-1.
In the East, Detroit beat Boston 121-113 behind 38 from Paul George, and Philadelphia spoiled the Knicks' ring night 106-100. Tonight's Western games include Mavericks at Rockets and Warriors at Lakers. Portland plays the Lakers in L.A. next Tuesday.
The arena fight
Confirmed In an Oregonian poll by DHM Research, only 5% of Portland voters view Tom Dundon favorably, and 59% view him unfavorably, including 33% very unfavorably. Statewide, it's 7% favorable, 36% unfavorable and 57% unsure.
Rumor Bill Oram of The Oregonian, citing four unnamed sources, reports that Dundon asked the city to put a price on buying out the lease's "first-class" maintenance clause. The answer came back at upwards of $1 billion. "He went crazy," one source said. Oram also reports that meetings were canceled and that league representatives scrapped plans to fly in and help.
Confirmed KGW reports that the City Council is scheduled to vote today on Portland's three appointees to the new Oregon Arena Joint Authority. The authority is needed to unlock $365 million in state money before a December deadline. On the court the season starts tonight, but the arena deadline is already close.
Small stuff
Nike put Ja Morant dunking over the stag on the White Stag sign. Jason Quick of The Athletic called it "a first," though KATU's morning reporter noticed the sign wasn't lit at dawn. Meyers Leonard flew in to honor Lillard's return, and he told Jason Quick: "Did I win Portland over in the very end?" The Athletic's opening-day profile of Nori notes that he backs his F-150 into his parking spot every morning, and the headline says he likes "to get in and just go." NBC News featured Lillard's insole company.
The Blazers waived Jeremy Sochan on Oct. 17, which leaves an open roster spot. Scoot Henderson is still headed for restricted free agency after Monday's extension deadline passed without a deal.
Six of Portland's first eight games are on the road, per The Oregonian. Next up is Friday at Sacramento, 7 p.m. PT. Rip City, get loud.
Sources: Reuters; The Oregonian (Bill Oram; betting desk; DHM Research poll); Marc J. Spears, Andscape; TSN; Elias Esquivel, Blazers On SI; official NBA injury report; ESPN; Kellan Olson, Arizona Sports; Duane Rankin, The Arizona Republic; DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM; NBA LockerVision; KGW; Jason Quick, The Athletic; KATU; NBC News; Trail Blazers.