Amare Stoudemire was declared the official winner of the "Power Forwards Who Roll the Dice on Microfracture Surgery Sweepstakes" last night, easily beating out Zach Randolph and Chris Webber for the distinction. Scoring 20 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in 19 minutes is in and of itself a feat, but it's even more impressive considering the guy hasn't played a single game this season. I mean, you have to consider the competition, but even so, kudos Mr. Stoudemire.
Portland wasn't able to muster much of a fight against Amare and the rest of the Suns, losing 108-125 in Phoenix last night. It was the typical rout we Blazer fans have come to know and despise. The Suns managed to put up an NBA season high for first-half points, which adds to the list of embarrassing milestones this Blazer team has endured this year.
In the absence of an oh-so-sleepy Darius Miles, Vik Khryapa tallied career high 22 points, as well as wrestling 12 rebounds away from more athletic, better paid Suns players. Brian Wheeler mentioned in the Quick Chat yesterday that Vik was looking to assert himself on offense more, so with the benching of Darius, last night officially kicked off the era of Viktor Khryapa: Offensive Juggernaut. Jarrett Jack also had a career night, scoring 20 points in only 21 minutes. Granted, the whole game save the first 10 minutes would be considered "garbage time" by most, but why rain on the parade you kill joys?