Post by DiamondThief on Nov 24, 2014 1:04:35 GMT -8
Portland Trail Blazers at Philadelphia 76ers
What: The Blazers are in the city of brotherly love to face the 76ers.
When: Monday, Nov. 24 at 4 p.m.
Media: TV - CSNNW; Radio - Rip City Radio 620AM.
Note: The Blazers have held their last four opponents to an average of 88.8 points per game.
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The Blazers (10-3, 2-2 on the road) are coming off a tough 94-88 road win over the Celtics on Nov. 24. They are led by Aldridge (21.4 points and 8.1 rebounds), Damian Lillard (6.8 assists) and Robin Lopez (1.4 blocks). The 76ers (0-13, 0-6 at home) are coming off a 91-83 road loss to the Knicks on Nov. 22. They are led by Tony Wroten (17.7 points, 5.8 assists, 1.8 steals) and Nerlens Noel (.6.5 rebounds, 1.3 blocks)
Blazers' Nicolas Batum; 76ers' Nerlens Noel
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
F - 18 Victor Claver; 41 Thomas Robinson; 1 Dorell Wright
C - 19 Joel Freeland; 35 Chris Kaman; 11 Meyers Leonard
INJURY REPORT
G - 3 CJ McCollum (fractured finger) - out
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
Boston Celtics
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 4 Nerlens Noel
PF - 12 Luc Mbah a Moute
C - 35 Henry Sims
SG - 1 Michael Carter-Williams
PG - 8 Tony Wroten
RESERVES
G - 14 KJ McDaniels; 88 Alexey Shved
F - 33 Robert Covington; 0 Brandon Davies; 9 JaKarr Sampson; 31 Hollis Thompson
C - 30 Drew Gordon
INJURY REPORT
G - 23 Jason Richardson (knee, foot) - out
F - 39 Jerami Grant (ankle) - out
C - 21 Joel Embiid (back) - out
HEAD COACH
Brett Brown
Angi's Take
There were some things to like about the Blazers come-from-behind win over the Celtics. Then again, there were some things not to like. Aldridge struggled through a poor shooting first half, but really did most of his damage on the glass, collecting a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with his 20 points. For a large part, the Blazers shots weren't falling, but their second half defense was exemplary. Portland is battling to be considered an elite team and elite teams find a way to win if their shots are not falling. Kaman and Blake showed (and continue to show) that they were the right off-season acquisitions for the second unit (Kaman had 16 points and 8 rebounds, while Blake had 11 points and 5 assists). Minutes have been hard to come by for Wright this season, but he gathered 4 rebounds and a block in just six minutes. The Blazers are sixth in the league in points per game (104.4) and sixth in points allowed per game (95.2). Both numbers rank first in the Northwest Division. The 76ers essentially start three bigs on their front line, including Noel who was once considered as a potential top pick in the 2013 draft. Wroten can get hot at times, and Carter-Williams was rookie of the year last season. While some may say the team is "tanking" this season, it is more likely that they simply have a lot of young talent on the roster which needs to get used to playing together and playing at the NBA level. The Blazers set a record last season in Philadelphia with 21 made three pointers. No game is a gimme, but if you must play any team on the second of a back-to-back on the road, the 76ers are probably the team you want on the schedule. That said, the Blazers cannot overlook them. Philadelphia will win some games this season. The Blazers will look to make sure they don't become the first win on the 76ers season. Matchup to watch: Nicolas Batum vs. Nerlens Noel.
Officials
Joe Crawford, Michael Smith, Haywoode Workman
Quotable
Blazers' coach Terry Stotts following Sunday's win over the Celtics: "(Aldridge) takes a beating every night out there. He grinds it out in the post and whether he gets to the paint or shoots turnarounds, he came up with big rebounds that we needed, he fought through some adversity offensively because he had shots at the rim that weren’t falling. I thought tonight was as much of a mental toughness game for him as a physical toughness game."
76ers center Nerlens Noel on staying positive through his early season struggles: "I just stayed confident and believed in myself through those games of not performing to how I thought I could have. feel like my legs are under me now after not playing basketball for so long, and I’m really starting to feel like my timing’s a lot better."
Featured Tweets
Extra
Via the SC2C official twitter account, our administrator, Kasey, provides this side note regarding the 1845 coin flip which determined the name of our city would be Portland rather than the alternative.
Game Meme
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Graphic courtesy of David.