The NBA planning office has really outdone itself here. After playing the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, the Portland Trail Blazers will hop on a plane and fly over 1,000 miles to face the Phoenix Suns on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Suns had Friday off and will be rested and ready to face the Blazers.

The Suns last played on Thursday when they beat the LA Clippers 125-119 in LA. Phoenix had a miserable first quarter, falling behind by 17, but recovered in the second half to defeat the Clippers.

After Oklahoma City jumped out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter against the Blazers on Friday, the Blazers somewhat improbably rallied in the second quarter and went into the locker room tied at 68 points. Unfortunately, the surprise wasn't as big as the Thunder went full throttle in the third round and won a 137:114 victory.

Portland Trail Blazers (2-4) at Phoenix Suns (4-1) – Sat. Nov. 2 – 7 p.m. Pacific

How to watch via antenna or cable: Check out your options on the Rip City Television Network

How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else

Trail Blazers injuries: Shaedon Sharpe, Matisse Thybulle, Robert Williams III (out), Anfernee Simons (no news yet after a nasty fall)

Sun's injuries: Josh Okogie (out), Bradley Bel (questionable)

SBNation partners: Bright side of the sun

Reader questions about Blazer's Edge

Name is Ash:

Why is their roster so strange? I don't even know how to explain it.

You can mostly thank the CBA and Phoenix's desire to have a Big Three. The Suns are a 2nd frontcourt team, meaning they cannot use the mid-level exception, cannot sign and trade their players to make a trade possible, and cannot combine players in a trade and cannot take back more salary , than they spend. All of these limitations mean that trading that makes them better or even more balanced is very difficult indeed. They managed to sign Tyrus Jones (see below), and that alone could make the Suns' roster make at least a little more sense.

Ca$hConsiderations:

It's always fun to see us play against the former Blazers, so it's a battle of the greats: Who will win the Ayton vs. Nurk and Clingan vs. Plumlee matchups?

I look forward to it. Nurkic isn't exactly a fan favorite in Phoenix these days, but he can definitely get up for games and pull out really good plays on occasion. Will it be Nurkic or Ayton who will be more motivated to give their former team a leg up? Or neither? And Clingan vs. Plumlee is a classic case of raw but energetic rookie vs. smart vet. My best guess is that the Blazers centers will win the judges' scorecard at the end of the fight, but that won't play a big role in the final result.

Another difficult task for Camara. Can he hold on to Booker, who has dropped 33 and 40 points in his last two games? Can we limit it to 25 points or less?

No. Booker has a more familiar role this season and has a true wingman in Durant. I expect a great game from Booker.

And will we see more of Rupert?!?

I think he deserves an earlier appearance, but that doesn't necessarily mean more minutes. His seven-point lead in seven and a half minutes of play against the Clippers was memorable, but it's really hard to get minutes in the NBA. A few more impromptu bursts of attack may change the narrative, but it's a long season with a lot more to prove.

What you should pay attention to

• A lead against the Suns doesn't seem to mean much. The Suns have two consecutive double-digit comeback wins. Against the Clippers, they looked like amateurs in the first half, surrendering 12 offensive rebounds, demonstrating a chaotic offense and playing a type of defense that few outside of Portland have seen in the NBA. However, in the second half they turned the game on its head by playing much better on both ends of the pitch. It would certainly be a good thing if the Blazers could go into the locker room with a lead at halftime, but don't count the Suns out no matter what the score is.

What others say

According to Tyus Jones, the key could be unlocking Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

In the Suns' first four games this season, Jones averaged 10 points, 6 assists and fewer than one turnover per game – but he's making an impression far beyond his individual performance, taking the pressure off Booker and Beal last season the offensive load he had to carry.

Nathan Jones from Bright Side of the Sun looks at the Jusuf Nurkic mystery and the Sun's salary situation.

I won't spend this article advocating for or defending Nurkic. If you hate Nurk and want to keep him away from the Suns, that's your prerogative. There will be a lot of debate about his rebounding, his lack of preseason running time, injuries, new systems and the fact that he is a worse center than former No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton (DUH!).

Instead, I want to give us a Suns reality check on the very real challenges of trading Jusuf Nurkic and explain why patience might not only be necessary; It might be our only option.

“At 4-1, the Suns are far from convinced they’re done,” writes Duane Rankin of the Arizona Republic.

The Suns are still developing and lack size, but guess what, they know that. The next step for them is to play like they did against Dallas in back-to-back games. Perhaps their best win of the season followed two subpar starts against the Lakers and at the Clippers.