PHOENIX -- It was tough to tell which team had the Most Valuable Player-caliber point guard Sunday night in Game 1 of the

at Phoenix.

But it wasn't difficult to tell which team now has control of the best-of-seven series: the Blazers.

Despite trying every which way imaginable to give the game away in the final minutes -- missing free throws and a breakaway dunk -- the Blazers stunned a red-hot Phoenix team 105-100 behind a determined and dynamic performance from

.

(6) Portland

vs. (3) Phoenix

Best-of-seven

Game 1:

Portland 105, Phoenix 100

Game 2:

at Phoenix,

7 p.m. Tuesday

On the air:

TV on KGW (8/NBC) and NBATV;

radio on KXTG (95.5)

»

»

Miller had 31 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and drew a huge charge on

late as the Blazers ended the Suns' eight-game home winning streak despite 25 points and 9 assists from his counterpart, MVP candidate

.

"Andre was tremendous. He is like our quiet assassin, our quiet leader out there," said

. "He just goes about his business and seems to rise to the occasion at the right time."

It was Miller's two free throws with 3.7 seconds left that put an end to a crazy close of the game, when the Blazers went 8 for 14 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes and Camby missed a breakaway dunk with 51 seconds left to give the Suns hope.

"Game 1 is always the most important game," said Miller, who tied his career playoff high for points. "We did almost everything right."

The Blazers also got a huge performance off the bench from Phoenix-native

, who scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.

It ended a string of 18 consecutive Game 1 road losses by the Blazers dating back to 1983, and established the Blazers as the only road team to win in the NBA's opening playoff games.

It also slowed down one of the NBA's hottest teams. Phoenix entered the playoffs winning 14 of 16 while boasting the NBA's second-best record since the February All-Star Break (23-6).

"They have to beat us four times," Nash said.

The first one, and usually the hardest one, is done.

"We didn't just come here to get one," coach

said. "We got the first one. Now we want to get the next one on Tuesday night. But we know we have our work cut out for us."

The Blazers have won 11 consecutive series when winning Game 1 and are 15-1 overall. Conversely, the Blazers are 3-24 when losing the opening game of a series.

Since 1946-1947, the team that has won Game 1 of a best-of-seven series has gone on to win the series nearly 79 percent of the time (309 of the 393).

"We just didn't play well," Nash said. "We didn't make shots we normally do."

It was an intense, entertaining and well-played game, with the lead seesawing throughout.

The Blazers kept the game to their pace, slower than high-scoring Phoenix would have preferred, and prevented the Suns from utilizing their favorite part of their arsenal, the fast-break. The Blazers held the Suns to four fast-break points, a season low, in part by turning the ball over only 10 times.

had 22 points, but struggled with his outside shot, hitting only 8 of 20 attempts and

added 18, including a huge three-pointer with 1:46 left that gave the Blazers a 97-92 lead.

, starting for the injured

, struggled all night while coming nowhere near matching Roy's team-leading 21.5 scoring average. Fernandez missed his first four three-pointers and finished with 5 points on 2 of 7 shooting. He also committed two costly third-quarter fouls, one that gave

three free throws and another on Richardson on an inbound play with two seconds left on the shot clock.

The Blazers trailed 72-70 entering the fourth after former Blazers forward

made a jump hook in the lane with 2.5 seconds left. The Suns this season were 43-5, including 26-2 at home, when entering the fourth with a lead.

The Blazers took a 25-24 lead after the first quarter, opening leads as large as seven. The Suns opened with a surprise strategy that featured 6-foot-6 Richardson on Miller and Nash on Fernandez.

The move was to prevent Miller from posting up Nash, and while Miller didn't look to score inside, he set an attacking tone with two lobs to Aldridge for scores and two push-ahead passes that resulted in fast-break layins for Batum, Bayless and Aldridge.

The Blazers, usually a jump-shooting team, did most of their damage inside, as they looked for Aldridge and made several forays into the paint. In the first quarter, the Blazers held a 20-8 advantage on points in the paint.

As is to be expected throughout the series, the Suns bench was a spark in the second quarter.

, a former star who has been injured for much of the season, hit all five of his shots, including three three-pointers. His last three-pointer, with 2.6 seconds left in the half, drew Phoenix to within 44-43 and incensed McMillan, who wanted Batum to foul with about five seconds left to force the Suns to have to inbound again.

The Suns bench outscored Portland's reserves 25-9 in the first half, and when Barbosa hit a three-pointer with 9:36 left, the Suns had their first lead of the game, 31-28.

The lead would build to 40-35, but the Blazers scored nine consecutive points, regaining the lead when Camby tipped in his own miss. It was one of 12 first-half rebounds for Camby, one off the franchise playoff record for a half set by Bill Walton in Game 5 of the 1977 NBA Finals.

Camby finished with 17 rebounds and three blocks, including an important swat of Stoudemire down the stretch.

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