Damian Lillard scored 25 points in his first regular-season game since rejoining the Trail Blazers, and Portland beat the Suns 124-83 on Wednesday night in the season opener. The game was over early. Yahoo Sports reported that Portland opened with a 21-0 run, the largest run to open a game anywhere in the league in the past 25 years. Yahoo also said Phoenix trailed by as many as 52 points, and our box score gives Portland a largest lead of 52.

The first quarter was 43-12 to Portland. The Suns never led and the game had no lead changes. Lillard played only 24 minutes and shot 7-of-12, including 6-of-10 from three, and 5-of-5 at the line. He added six assists and had a +23 rating. ESPN and Sportsnet both noted the six threes and the 25-point total. Sportsnet's highlight package called him the game's high scorer.

He was not the only Portland player who scored. Deni Avdija had 18 points, 10 rebounds and two steals in 23 minutes, per Sportsnet's summary and our box score. Toumani Camara also scored 18 and made 4 of 7 threes. Scoot Henderson added 15. ESPN's headline notes that Ja Morant made his Portland debut. He had 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, eight assists and three steals in 23 minutes, and was +33. Portland shot 45-of-94 (48%) and made 19 of 47 threes. It had 32 assists to Phoenix's 14 and outrebounded the Suns 56-39.

Phoenix shot 30-of-84 (36%) and went 6-of-31 from three. Devin Booker scored 23 on 7-of-13 shooting with 9-of-9 at the line, but he was -43 in 29 minutes. Dillon Brooks had 10 and Jalen Green had 10. Collin Gillespie missed all eight of his shots, all of them threes. Yahoo's recap said the loss "exposed nearly every concern entering the season." We can't say which concerns it meant, because we only have the feed summary. The Suns' only real advantage was on defense: they had six blocks to Portland's one.

The Associated Press, via Sportsnet, and ESPN each ran a separate story on the crowd's reception of Lillard. We only have their headlines, which say fans showed him love. The crowd at the Moda Center was 19,367.

Portland is 1-0, and our standings have the Blazers third in the Northwest. Phoenix is 0-1 and fourth in the Pacific. Our records also show earlier October results for both teams. Portland lost 128-118 at Golden State on Oct. 16 and won 110-98 at Sacramento on Oct. 13. Phoenix lost 123-103 at San Antonio on Oct. 14 and 119-116 to Utah on Oct. 16. Wednesday's margin was far larger than any of those.

Portland plays at Sacramento on Friday, Oct. 23. Phoenix hosts Golden State on Saturday, Oct. 24.