Post by DiamondThief on Nov 5, 2014 1:46:21 GMT -8
Dallas Mavericks
at
Portland Trail Blazers
What: Dallas makes an early season appearance in Portland.
When: Thursday, Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.
Media: TNT (TV); Rip City Radio 620 AM (radio).
Forum: To comment, please login or register.
The Blazers (2-2) dropped the series to the Mavericks (3-1) last season, two games to one. The Blazers lone win came on the road. In the final game on March 7, Portland scored just 10 points in the fourth quarter and lost by five. The Mavericks are out to a solid start at 3-1 and are coming off a 118-113 home win over the Celtics on Nov. 3. Their starting forward duo of Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki combined for 56 points, giving for 29 and 27, respectively. Damian Lillard and Robin Lopez were the stars as the Blazers turned back LeBron James, Kevin Love and the Cavaliers at home, 101-82, on Nov. 4. The Blazers had five players collect six of more rebounds en route to a 48-41 rebounding edge. The Blazers excellent defense in the game, limiting the Cavaliers to just 48 points in the second, third and fourth quarters combined.
Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki; Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge
Dallas Mavericks
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 25 Chandler Parsons
PF - 41 Dirk Nowitzki
C - 6 Tyson Chandler
SG - 11 Monta Ellis
PG - 14 Jameer Nelson
RESERVES
G - 5 J.J.Barea; 2 Raymond Felton; 20 Devin Harris 1 Ricky Ledo
F - 7 Al-Farouq Aminu; 9 Jaw Crowder; 24 Richard Jefferson; 34 Brandon Wright
C - 4 Greg Smith
INJURIES
G - 2 Raymond Felton (suspension) - out
HEAD COACH
Rick Carlisle
Portland Trail Blazers
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 88 Nicolas Batum
PF - 12 LaMarcus Aldridge
C - 42 Robin Lopez
SG - 2 Wesley Matthews
PG - 0 Damian Lillard
RESERVES
G - 5 Will Barton; 25 Steve Blake; 23 Allen Crabbe; 3 CJ McCollum
F - 18 Victor Claver; 41 Thomas Robinson; 1 Dorell Wright
C - 19 Joel Freeland; 35 Chris Kaman; 11 Meyers Leonard
INJURIES
C - 19 Joel Freeland (foot) - probable
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
Angi's Take
My oldest sister, Kasey, always says that if a team plays a full 48 minutes on both ends, they have a 99.9 percent chance of winning. The Blazers did just that against the Cavs and held James to just 11 points. Furthermore, Lillard had by far his best game of the short season with 27 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, a steal and a block. Stotts took advantage of the best offensive matchup the Blazers had against the Cavs; Lopez, shot 8-11 from the field with 19 points. It was a game where the Blazers played great team defense for the full 48 minutes and it led to several offensive opportunities. Matthews has been a stalwart on both ends of the court this season and played exceptional defense against James. Despite being matched up with Ellis against Dallas, I look for him to have another solid outing In looking at the retooled Mavericks, they look similar to the Cavs in relation to their off-season moves. They added Parsons, Chandler, Ellis and Nelson, as well as Harris and Jefferson to come in off the bench. They are a deeper team than the Cavs, though the starting unit lacks a player with quite the reputation of James. Nowitzki is likely headed into the Hall of Fame but, at this point, is also likely headed into the twilight of his career. He and Aldridge always share greatly intense battles when these teams play. This game marks the return of Blazers non-fan favorite Felton. Parsons' statements about he being a better small forward than Batum during last year's playoff series between the Blazers and Parsons' then-Rockets irked a lot of fans. My guess is that Batum is still irked as well. Matchup to watch: Chandler Parsons vs. Nicolas Batum.
OFFICIALS
Scott Foster, Matt Boland, Josh Tiven
FEATURED TWEET I
This comes from Blazers fan Amy Lynn talking some Lopez and Portland pride after the win over the Cavs.
FEATURED TWEET II
Blazers analyst Antonio Harvey putting LeBron's and his most recent decision in its place.
FEATURED TWEET III
This poster was nice enough to give us some Nov. 4 Oregon election results.
EXTRA
CSNNW's Jabari Young talks on Trail Blazers Pulse about LeBron James being uninterested in the game against the Blazers. Look closely at the bottom of the screen at the beginning for the tweet from Kasey
Graphic courtesy of David.
