(Sports Network) - The Portland Trail Blazers will kick off the postseason in Phoenix tonight minus All-Star guard Brandon Roy.
In Progress: Roy-Less Blazers Open Playoffs Against Suns
A full 82-game schedule was needed to sort out the jumbled Western Conference playoff scenarios. The Suns captured the third seed in the conference and will face the Trail Blazers, the No. 6 seed.
Phoenix is in the playoffs for the fifth time in six years, and missed out on a chance for an NBA title last season by not even qualifying for the postseason. But a strong year by the dynamic duo of Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire has the fans in the Valley of the Sun thinking world championship.
Head coach Alvin Gentry has done an admirable job with his up-tempo offense and may even get some big contributions from a few surprise areas. Oft-injured veteran Grant Hill and Jason Richardson have been in the league for quite some time, and anything less than a chance to play for a world title would be a disappointment.
Gentry's squad ended the regular season on a hot note, winning three straight and 14 of the past 16 contests. A handful of playoff teams fell to the Suns, including this round's opponent in Portland. The Suns, though, lost two of three meetings with the Trail Blazers in the regular season, but have won 16 of the last 21 meetings between the clubs. They are 16-3 in the past 19 encounters in the desert, which will come in hand in this series since Phoenix has the homecourt edge.
The Suns, who ended the regular season with eight straight home wins, compiled a lofty 32-9 home mark in 2009-10, as opposed to their 22-19 ledger away from US Airways Center.
Phoenix will be without starting center Robin Lopez, who is sidelined with a back injury. The 7-footer has started light workouts but will not play in the series.
Portland, meanwhile, ended the season with 13 victories over its last 17 games and is in the postseason for the second consecutive year. The Blazers will no doubt be underdogs for this playoff matchup since Roy will not participate due to a torn meniscus in his right knee.
Roy opted for surgery and will be out at least one to two weeks. He has been ruled out of this series but may be back if the Blazers somehow advance to the second round.
"We knew he had to have (surgery)," Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan said, "It was just a matter of when. Brandon went through some things on his own, did some shooting, and just felt like after going through that, talking to the doctors, it was best to not even try to practice. Go ahead and have this done and see if he can get back as soon as possible."
Roy, who averaged a team-high 21.5 points per game but missed 17 games with assorted injuries, hurt his knee in this past Sunday's win over the Lakers and missed Portland's final two regular season games.
Of course, Portland is also without centers Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla. Oden went down with a fractured left patella in early December, and Przybilla ruptured a right patella tendon in early March.
McMillan will most likely use Rudy Fernandez in the starting lineup, but is fortunate to have veterans Marcus Camby and Andre Miller, and young star LaMarcus Aldridge at full strength.
Aldridge is a quiet warrior and finished second on the team with 17.9 points per game. Camby is a force in side at the twilight of his career, and can still grab boards and block shots with the best of them.
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