Well, that sucked. I posted many comments in the game thread and elsewhere about why I thought the Suns lost the game last night, so, I won't get into that here. Instead, I will briefly talk about what the team must do to in the big picture in order to win this series. Seth said we as Suns fans shouldn't panic prematurely. Well folks, I think we can allow ourselves a little panic. That being said, panic does not equate with "giving up" or believing we can't win. Panic simply means that anxiety has set in. And if you don't have at least a little anxiety right now you're not really a Suns fan.

Okay. Although a little panic is a natural thing right now, I do see a way out. Let me say that I am glad that the first round was changed to a seven game series as opposed to the previous five game format. The reason: this could be our way out.

First, for those of you who were predicting a sweep or Suns in five -- you are crazy. A few regulars here(inlcluding Wil, trevor and myself) forecasted a tougher series than most were expecting. And guess what? We got it. What does it all mean, this loss in Game 1? Well, it means a couple of things. As most know, it means primarily that the Blazers have now wrestled the proverbial homecourt advantage away from us. In short, we will HAVE to win at least one game in Portland to take the series.

There is no way we win 4 straight against this team. So get that thought out of your mind right away. In fact, I don't think we can win 4 out of 5. Without RoLO in the middle the points in the paint will have to be fought and clawed for, just like our current playoff lives. The only way out for us is to focus on winning Game 2 in the here and now. If there ever was a must game, then Game 2 is it.  Assuming we take care of business on Tuesday night (I think we can and will by the way) -- then, it gets interesting. I believe Games 3 and 4 are pivotal. We HAVE TO Win at least one of those two in Portland. Even assuming we win Game 2, we can't afford to go down 3-1 to this team. They are too good defensively and create too many matchup problems for us to think we can win three straight. If we win it will be a scrappy, clawing and fighting victory. And I don't see it happening in fewer than Seven games.

That's right folks. Our only chance is to take three out of the next five and take our chances with a Game 7 on our homecourt. It starts with an anxiety filled Game 2 on Tuesday and then task of taking at least one of two up North. The Suns have been a good road team throughout the regular season. They'll have to show they can be one in the playoffs as well.

So, enough of the Amare Stoudemire scapegoating. Let's pull together as fans and help pull our team through a tough, nail-biting seven game series !