Nov 23rd 2008 2:30AM by Brett Edwards (author feed)
Filed under: Suns, Trail Blazers, NBA Last NightThe Suns had an important game
at home against the Blazers, needing to get back on track after losing their
last time out to the Lakers. But to many, finding out how Greg Oden would do in
his first game against Shaquille O’Neal was just as interesting.

With Shaq in the starting lineup and Oden coming off the bench, there
was a question of just how much time the two would actually spend on the floor
together. At about the eight minute mark of the first quarter, Oden reported to
the scorer’s table to check in, but Shaq ended up subbing out at the same
time, so it was unclear if we’d see more than a minute or two of the
matchup. But in the second quarter, Shaq came in and didn’t hesitate to go
at Oden the very first trip down the floor.

O’Neal posted up Oden,
and went to his patented quick-baseline-spin move, the one that usually leaves
young defenders standing there wondering what just happened as Shaq gets an
uncontested dunk. The move worked on Oden just as it had on Andrew Bynum two
nights earlier, but this time the refs whistled Shaq for a travel before he got
the chance to throw it down. Shaq would get another chance in to dunk on Oden in
the third quarter, and this time, he would not be denied.Continue Reading