Ja Morant started next to Damian Lillard in his Portland Trail Blazers regular-season debut on Wednesday, a 124-83 rout of the Phoenix Suns.

Meanwhile, LaMelo Ball started for the Minnesota Timberwolves the same night in their season opener, a 131-106 road win over the Miami Heat. The Blazers and Timberwolves share the Northwest Division, and NBA champion Jeff Teague compared the two backcourts.

Jeff Teague Makes His Case for Ja Morant, Damian Lillard Over LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards

Teague, who won an NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, praised Portland’s backcourt duo of Morant and Lillard.

“Ja looked good. This is my favorite backcourt. Ja and Dame… It’s my favorite duo… They got four guards that’s nice,” he said.

Then, he made it clear that he’d take Portland’s duo over Minnesota’s one-two punch.

“Ja Morant is better than LaMelo Ball. Ya’ll think LaMelo is better than Ja Morant? And Anthony Edwards and Damian Lillard is a toss up,” Teague added.

Morant finished with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals in 23 minutes, and his plus-33 was the best on the team. Lillard was playing his first regular-season game in a Blazers uniform in more than 1,300 days. He posted 25 points and 6 assists while making 6 of 10 three-pointers in 24 minutes, mostly off the ball.

Meanwhile, Ball finished with 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting, including 5 of 13 from three, with 6 assists. Edwards scored 45 points on 16-of-29 shooting, made 9 of 17 threes, and grabbed 10 rebounds in 33 minutes. His 45 points were the most by any player in either game.

Teague’s comments come as Morant tries to move past three seasons marred by injuries and suspensions. His role in Portland was an open question through the preseason because the backcourt was crowded. Lillard was coming back from a left Achilles injury, Morant had arrived in a trade, and Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson already had set roles.

At the start of training camp, Lillard described the lineup as he understood it: “As far as I know, Ja will start, I’ll start, Deni [Avdija] will start.” Morant started two of the three preseason games he played.

In an Andscape story published on Oct. 20, Marc J. Spears wrote that Morant was expected to come off the bench, but that line is no longer in the story.

On Wednesday, NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that Morant would start next to Lillard. Morant pushed the pace, attacked the paint, and trash-talked with Devin Booker, mixing driving layups with no-look passes.

Portland opened on a 21-0 run and led by as many as 52 points. The Blazers finished just short of the franchise record for largest margin of victory in a season opener, 48 points, set in 2017.

“You only get one chance at a first impression,” Morant said after the game. “And that was our message to each other before we ran out of the tunnel, to make sure we leave a good message and start off on the right foot.”

He was just as struck by his backcourt partner.

“It’s crazy… the guy hasn’t played in 18 months and he came out and delivered the way he did for us. It’s special, man,” Morant said of Lillard.

Portland plays at the Sacramento Kings on Friday, the same night Minnesota plays at the Orlando Magic.