Portland Trail Blazers crush Suns for Chauncey Billups’s first win

Nassir Little might just be an energy/defense guy for now and that’s more than enough

Billups must have been impressed with what he saw from Little’s 16 minutes against the Sacramento Kings when the team reviewed the film, because Nas was granted nearly the same amount of minutes in the first half against the Suns.

While he didn’t make a huge impression in his 12 minutes in the opening half, he certainly drew a ton of eyeballs. Little spent every second of his playing time flying around the court, disrupting Phoenix’s attackers, constantly pressuring the offensive boards, and generally injecting the Blazers with straight diesel.

Billups was convinced enough by Nas’s first half showing that he gave Little the starting nod with Norman Powell sidelined in the second half.

Portland has been waiting on Little to become their third option and their long awaited star at forward for over two seasons. So far, he seems to be embracing the role of a late career Gerald Wallace — an unleashed wrecking ball on both ends of the court.

That will be more than enough for the Blazers for now. If Little can continue to disrupt offenses and hit the occasional three, while working on the more refined aspects of his game, Portland will be in great shape for the rest of the season.

One of the few holes remaining in the Blazers roster is a reliable, defensive-minded wing. Little is showing that he’s willing to be just that.

If he can make a few more plays like this along the way, Portland will be a much more complete roster than initially expected.