Apr 20, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks point guard Raymond Felton (2) reacts on the court against the Boston Celtics during game one of the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Raymond Felton will always have a special place in my heart; that hidden corner that secretly wants people to trip when they’re balancing groceries or park their Mercedes near a flock of incontinent pigeons. It’s somewhere behind the aorta, I think. It seems strange to me now, that just two seasons ago I had absolutely no opinion on the man. He was just another decent point guard in a league overflowing with good ones. But that was then, and this is now.

As you likely know, the Raymond Felton I grew to despise spent an infamous year in the Rose City out of shape, out of touch, and out of his mind. He played with the decision making of a young Russell Westbrook and the charisma of an inflamed hemorrhoid. He was poison. Felton’s prima donna antics inevitably contributed to the release of then head coach, Nate McMillan. I’m well aware that the Blazers needed a change, but after years of valuable service, it shouldn’t have happened like that.

But back to present day. Nate is gone, Felton is gone, as are a slew of other players. So why can’t I let this go? Raymond is back in New York, where he wanted to be, but his heavily contested 20-footers still haunt my dreams. I guess I’m just bitter that such a brat could ride into town, muddle our comforters, and then land back in his dream role while we remake our bed for what feels like the thousandth time.

But, you see, I’m conflicted. The Boston Celtics have long been my least favorite franchise of the sporting world (sorry Celtic fans). There’s something about their swagger that makes my Blazer blood boil. So what do I do when they face off with Portland’s ghost of failures past in the first round of the playoffs? Do I stand behind my specter or swallow my pride and side with the Pierce, Rondo*, Garnett axis of evil? I find myself torn between the ugly colors of resentment and loathing. There’s just no winning.

Luckily, the champion is not decided in round 1. It all boils down to what I’d like to see in the long run; Miami-New York, or Miami-Boston for the conference title. Of course, these matchups are no guarantee, but foresight has never shared hindsight’s 20/20 vision. Personally, a Miami-New York rematch would warm my heart (even that shady part where Felton lurks). It looks like I’ve got a long road of compromise ahead of me, and that’s ok. I just can’t help but feel unclean.

Felton has been considerably better in New York than he ever was in Portland, although it seems that each of his positive contributions is an eyelash away from catastrophe. It’s a good thing he has the NBA scoring leader in Carmelo Anthony to make him look adequate, because there is no way the Knicks success can be attributed to his “talents”. So good luck, Raymond Felton. I only ask that you treat New York the way you treated Portland and take no responsibility for the team’s outcome.

(Unless, of course, they fail. Then the blame falls squarely on your pork shoulders. Take that!)

@davidmackaypdx | @ripcityproject | davidmackaypdx@gmail.com

May 3, 2010; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns forward (1) Amare Stoudemire celebrates a shot with guard (13) Steve Nash against the San Antonio Spurs in game one in the western conference semifinals of the 2010 NBA playoffs at the US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Spurs 111-102. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

With the free agency period drawing nearer and nearer, one of the most highly-coveted guards on the market, Steve Nash, is weighing his multitude of options, one of which are the New York Knicks.

Nash, 38, is a sure-fire, first-ballot Hall-of-Fame point guard. A member of the impossible to join 50-40-90 club, the Canadian waiter has shot over 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 90 percent from the free throw line four times in five years in his career with the Phoenix Suns, flirting around with those same percentages every year of his career.

Just for some perspective, the only other players to reach that milestone in NBA History are Larry Bird (2), Mark Price (1), Reggie Miller (1) and Dirk Nowitzki (1) with Nash reaching it the most times.

But unlike Nowitzki and Bird, Nash has yet to attain an NBA Championship, let alone the NBA Finals. The closest he’s been to grandest stage is the Western Conference Finals, where the Suns have fallen to Kobe Bryant the Lakers twice (2010 and 2005).

Now that he’s closing in on the end of his career, Nash wants that very thing that separates the greats from the immortal, and many believe that he can achieve that very goal playing alongside Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler with the New York Knicks.

Steve Nash and the Knicks are popping up in every magazine.

Apr 14, 2012; San Antonio, TX, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash (13) shoots during the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at the AT

He told SLAM Online:  ”I would consider the Knicks. Amar’e actually called me to tell me about his engagement a couple weeks back, and we talked a bit about how nice it’d be to play together again.”

If there’s any reason why Nash wouldn’t sign with the Knicks, it’s monetary. New York can only offer him the mid-level exception of $5 million, and Phoenix could offer him much more, if not match last year’s contract of $10 million. In addition, Nash was close friends with coach Mike D’Antoni who was, justifiably, forced out of New York.

ESPN New York’s Mark Mazzeo reported:

Nash said he worries about the possibility of taking less money to play for a team he believes is a contender, only for one of its top players to be injured — or worse, for him to be traded.

“I have to be really careful and make a sound decision,” Nash said.

Yet in the same interview, Nash told Mazzeo:

“I wouldn’t have any fear of the fans maybe having a love affair with Jeremy [Lin]. … I think it’s great. … That doesn’t really bother me.”

The bottom line?

No one knows whether he will or won’t sign with the Knicks at the mid-level exception, but he’d revitalize Stoudemire for sure.

STAT looked like his old, All-Star self running the pick-and-roll with Jeremy Lin before they both went down with injuries, and Nash is arguably the best pick-and-roll guard in the NBA. They ran it 100 times/game in Phoenix under D’Antoni and it would re-spark a flame that was put out when Stoudemire left for New York.

Throw in an athletic defender in Tyson Chandler, who ran his own pick-and-roll game back in Charlotte with the Hornets, and you’ve got a starting five that can put up 80 points every night. Include Iman Shumpert off the bench, who’s looking at a six to eight month timetable for his return to the court after a torn ACL (smack in the middle of the season), Jeremy Lin and  Steve Novak, whose Bird Rights the Knicks recovered after the arbitrator ruled in their favor, with Jared Jeffries and you’ve got a solid eight-man rotation to wreak havoc amongst the league.

Jan. 7 2011; Phoenix, AZ, USA; New York Knicks forward Amar

Would they be able to compete with the HEAT? I don’t know.

But one thing’s for sure. They wouldn’t meet them in the first round ever again, and Nash surely wouldn’t allow them to get swept.

The other teams that are “in the race” to land Nash, according to SportsNet’s Eric Smith, are the Portland Trail Blazers, Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns, but championship odds with the Knicks are much greater.

But at the end of it all, Steve Nash knows what he wants.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay, Nash said:

“I’m open to every team that has interest in me. … I have to weigh it up with family, salary, environment, opportunity to win—all these different factors that are in a big pot, and figure out what’s best.”

“Maybe it will be Phoenix or another team that’s kind of a project. Or maybe it’s a team that’s on the cusp.”

“I’m completely open to it. … In some ways, it’d be great to play for the Knicks. I don’t want to, you know, set off any alarm bells right now, but it’d be a great opportunity. It’s a franchise I’d love to play for. It’s a city I love, obviously, living here the last 10 summers…I would definitely consider it, if they had interest in me.”

The interest is there, Steve. Now the ball’s in your court.

The Blazers came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter. They double-teamed Stoudemire early and often, leaving the Knicks to throw up bad three-pointers. Their offense was balanced, with Nicolas Batum, Brandon Roy, Andre Miller, LaMarcus Aldridge, Fabricio Oberto, and Wesley Matthews all contributing points, and the Blazers cruised to a 26-19 lead at the end of the opening quarter. The Knicks looked as bad as the Miami Heat in their season opener against the Celtics–their offense was unfocused, and the Blazers had no trouble having their way with the New York defense.

The second quarter belonged to Wilson Chandler, whose back-to-back three-pointers a little over halfway through the period lit the fuse for the Knicks, who dominated the offensive glass and hit key shots for which Portland had no answer. Aldridge in particular struggled, going 2-for-6 from the field in the quarter and missing three of his four free-throw attempts. On the night, Aldridge was 4 for 10 from the line and 8 for 20 from the field. The free throws he missed came in key spots, and he looked particularly lost in the low post, resulting in one of the least-encouraging 20-and-10 performances you’re likely to see all year. The Blazers were up by 12 at one point in the second quarter, and gave it all away to the Knicks in the form of bad shots and avoidable turnovers, and the teams entered the half tied at 44.

The third quarter was more of the same for the Blazers, who played sloppy defense and let the Knicks run amok on the offensive boards. At least they made some shots this time around–Roy and Aldridge got it going offensively and kept the Blazers in the game more or less by themselves. It helped that Stoudemire was banished to the bench about halfway through the quarter after picking up his fourth foul. Despite looking thoroughly outplayed the entire period, the Blazers somehow came out of the quarter tied with the Knicks at 74, making up for their anemic rebounding with a scoring burst from Roy.

The Knicks built their lead to nine early in the fourth quarter before the Blazers went on a 17-3 run to close out the game in what is quickly (and worryingly) becoming their normal fashion. Even this run was plagued by some crucial missed free throws on the part of Aldridge and Miller, but Miller’s stellar, unselfish play down the stretch (with five fouls, no less) allowed Roy (who led all scorers with 29 points) and Matthews (who had a strong shooting night after struggling on Wednesday against the Clippers) to get to the basket. But the real story of the fourth-quarter run was the Blazers’ improved defense, which essentially shut the Knicks down in the final six minutes of play.

The turning point–the moment when this moved from one the Blazers would have to hope for some lucky breaks to win to one that we started to feel like they would win–came with Portland up 96-95 with 25 seconds left. Raymond Felton took advantage of Matthews’ slip and used the opportunity to drive to the basket, only to be met by both Camby and Batum. The block was credited to Camby, but he told the bench after the play that it was really Batum who made what turned out to be the game-saving play. A couple of Portland buckets and an Amar’e Stoudemire turnover later, the Blazers were looking at their first 3-0 start since the 1999-2000 season and no less than an even split of this opening road trip, which will take them to Chicago on Monday before concluding in Milwaukee the following day.

While this is the kind of close road win that separates 50-win teams from 55-win ones, the Blazers simply cannot afford to win too many more games in the fashion that they did tonight. The late runs look impressive on highlight reels, but they shouldn’t be necessary. In all three of their games so far this season, the Blazers have been the better team on paper, and they’ve begun each game playing as such. But their tendency to fall back on lazy jump shots and let opponents destroy them inside in the middles of games is going to come back to bite them. They’ve proven they can turn it on late against high-lottery-to-low-playoff-caliber teams, but against the Lakers, Celtics, Magic, Heat, and Thunder, that probably won’t be enough. We can chalk up their pathetic performance on the offensive glass tonight to Camby’s foul trouble, but until Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla come back, that’s likely going to be a recurring issue for them, and it will hurt them. Enjoy this win, be happy that they are guaranteed to be above .500 the next time they take the floor at the Rose Garden, but there is work to be done.

Email me | Twitter: @ripcityproject |@shighkin