Greg Oden Back Tonight for Another Try at This NBA on National TV Thing

Greg Oden's previous national TV debuts haven't exactly gone as planned. Last season, the NBA opened up the season with Portland vs. San Antonio, the new against the old. Oden missed it due to microfracture surgery. The Blazers and Lakers we're a part of the league's featured season opening double-header this season ... and Oden lasted less than a half before spraining his foot, an injury that knocked him out for two weeks.

But Oden's back! And hmm, how convenient ... the Blazers are scheduled for a nationally televised game. Portland is 4-3 against a seriously daunting schedule without Oden, and faces a two-faced Miami squad tonight.

I feel all this injury noise will be forgotten some day. Henry Abbott might have put it best: these Oden injuries are not related. Microfracture has got nothing to do with the broken wrist suffered at Ohio State, nor the foot sprain suffered two weeks ago. These isn't some recurring malady. It's a series of unfortunate events. The smart money, you'd think, is on the series ending at some point.

You can't blame Blazers fans for either cowering into the bomb shelter or planning for life without a full-time Oden, though. For all the luck and excitement Portland has had over the past three years, this isn't a psychological roller coaster you'd wish on a billy goat. We with different allegiances can look at tonight's coolly -- hey, it's just another game for the Blazers; Greg's going to get a bucket and a couple blocks and the world will exist another day. But I see why it's something larger for the men, women and children of Portland.

The game will tip off at 8PM EST on ESPN.