Post by DiamondThief on Dec 1, 2014 17:39:49 GMT -8
Portland Trail Blazers at Denver Nuggets
What: Portland is in the Mile High City for the final time this season to take on the Nuggets.
When: Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. (pacific).
Nuggets Media: TV - Altitude; Radio - 104.3 FM/850 AM.
Blazers Media: TV - KGW; Radio - Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Note: Following this game, Blazers will have played the Nuggets in three of its first 18 games.
Previous: Nov. 9 - Blazers 116, Nuggets 100. Nov. 12 - Blazers 130, Nuggets 113.
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The Blazers (13-4, 2-4 on the road) are coming off a 107-93 home win over the Timberowolves on Nov. 30. They are led by LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews. The Blazers are averaging 104.2 points (sixth in the NBA) and giving up 96.2 points (sixth). The Nuggets (9-8, 5-3 at home) are coming off a 103-101 road win over the Jazz on Dec. 1. They are lead by Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried and Aaron Afflalo. The Nuggets are averaging 105.4 points (fourth) and giving up 105.2 points (23rd).
Nuggets' Kenneth Faried; Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge
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 - 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
INJURIES
G - 5 Will Barton (illness) - out
G - 3 CJ McCollum (finger) - out
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Pts - LaMarcus Aldridge 21.4
Reb - LaMarcus Aldridge 9.6
Ast - Damian Lillard 6.8
Blk - Robin Lopez 1.8
Stl - Damian Lillard 1.5
FG - Robin Lopez 53.4%
FT - Damian Lillard 88.3%
3pt - Damian Lillard 42.5%
Denver Nuggets
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 21 Wilson Chandler
PF - 35 Kenneth Faried
C - 25 Timofey Mozgov
SG - 10 Aaron Afflalo
PG - 3 Ty Lawson
RESERVES
G - 11 Erick Green; 14 Gary Harris; 5 Nate Robinson
F - 00 Darrell Arthur; 8 Danilo Gallinari; 1 Alonzo Gee; 7 JJ Hickson
C - 34 JaVale McGee; 23 Jusuf Nurkic
INJURIES
G - 4 Randy Foye (quadriceps) - out
C - 34 JaVale McGee (tibia) - questionable
HEAD COACH
Brian Shaw
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Pts - Ty Lawson 16.2
Reb - Timofey Mozgov 7.6
Ast - Ty Lawson 10.1
Blk - Timofey Mozgov 1.3
Stl - Ty Lawson 1.4
FG - Timofey Mozgov 56.2%
FT - Danilo Gallinari 88.1
3Pt - Aaron Afflalo 40.8
Angi's Take
By now these teams should be readily familiar with each other after having played twice already this season. In their previous meeting on Nov. 12, the Blazers tied a franchise-second best 84 points in the first half -- a fact which prompted Nuggets' fans to boo their team. The Blazers easily won both games, but this is a different Nuggets team; one which has reversed its fortunes since their last meeting on Nov. 11. Aldridge tends to have good outings When the Blazers face Denver. The L-Train is averaging 12.8 rebounds over the last five games and is just 16 short of tying Jerome Kersey on the for third on the Blazers' all-time rebounding list. Wesley Matthews has been on fire from behind the arc, making 19 over the past three games (he has become the first Blazer to ever reach that feat). Lillard shook off a stomach ailment to finish with a respectable 17 points and 8 assists in Sunday's win over the Timberwolves. The Blazers are now featuring a solid rotation off the bench with Kaman, Blake, Freeland and Crabbe. Each will be called upon to provide a punch against a talented Nuggets reserve core. The Nuggets are an offensive juggernaut who are adept at scoring on anyone. After starting the season 1-5, they have won eight of their last 10, including seven of their last eight. Lawson is the player to watch, as he is a more-than-competent scorer and is averaging 10.1 assists per game Afflalo and Gallinari are threats on the wings, while Faried, Mozgov and Hickson are asked to carry the rebounding load. McGee should be back after a leg injury and should provide some much-needed depth to the bench. Robinson is a spark plug who can make shots and lead the Nuggets on mini runs. The Blazers should be able to win this if they control the boards (they lead the NBA with 48.2 rebounds per game) and force the Nuggets to take contested shots. Matchup to watch: LaMarcus Aldridge vs. Kenneth Faried.
OFFICIALS
Bill Spooner, Bennie Adams, Derek Richardson
QUOTABLE
Blazers Wesley Matthews on his hot shooting the past three games: “It’s weird, I don’t feel that great. My elbow is sore, but teammates are finding me. Honestly, I’m just shooting the same shots that I was missing earlier in the season. Ones that were short, long, in and out, they’re just falling.”
Nuggets' forward Danilo Gallinari on the fans reaction to the Blazers' 84 first-half points in their previous meeting: "It's not easy for them to see us play like that. I understand them. Hopefully, we can turn those boos into applause the next game."
FEATURED TWEETS
EXTRA
As some may know, Meyers Leonard was growing a Mustache during the month of November. Well, as of Dec., 1, it is gone. I conducted an Exclusive SC2C interview with the Mustache on Nov. 30. Yet hours, after some prodding, Leonard shaved it. As Rip City mourned Monday evening, I posed the following question to Adam Bjaranson and Michael Holton, who were hosting Trail Blazers Courtside. Adam posed the question to radio play-by-play man Brian "Wheels" Wheeler regarding the Mustache (e.g. "Angi asks").
MATCH UP MEME
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Graphic courtesy of David.
