Post by DiamondThief on Dec 5, 2014 23:07:39 GMT -8
Portland Trail Blazers at New York Knicks
What: Portland is in the Big Apple to take on the Knicks.
When: Sunday, Dec. 7 at 4:30 p.m. (pacific).
Blazers Media: TV - KGW; Radio - Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Knicks Media: TV - MSG; Radio - ESPN NY 98.7.
Note: The teams will conclude their season series on Dec. 28 in Portland.
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The Blazers (15-4, 5-2 on the road) are coming off an 88-82 home win over the Pacers on Dec. 4. They are led by LaMarcus Aldridge, Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews. The Blazers are averaging 103.4 points (10th in the NBA) and giving up 95.8 points (fifth). The Knicks (4-17, 3-8 at home) are coming off a 103-102 home loss to the Hornets on Dec. 5. They are lead by Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Jose Calderon. The Knicks are averaging 93.0 points (26th) and giving up 98.6 points (10th).
Knicks' Carmelo Anthony; Blazers' Joel Freeland
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
INJURIES
G - 0 Damian Lillard (finger) - probable
G - 3 CJ McCollum (finger) - out
F - 1 Dorell Wright (upper respiratory infection) - questionable
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Pts - LaMarcus Aldridge 22.2
Reb - LaMarcus Aldridge 9.8
Ast - Damian Lillard 6.5
Blk - Robin Lopez 1.6
Stl - Damian Lillard 1.5
FG - Robin Lopez 53.8%
FT - Damian Lillard 86.7%
3pt - Damian Lillard 40.7%
New York Knicks
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 7 Carmelo Anthony
PF - 4 Quincy Acy
C - 1 Amar'e Stoudemire
SG - 21 Iman Shumpert
PG - 3 Jose Calderon
RESERVES
G - 5 Tim Hardaway Jr., 0 Shane Larkin; 9 Pablo Prigioni; J.R. Smith
F - 4 Quincy Acy; 14 Jason Smith; 6 Travis Wear
C - 11 Samuel Delambert; 45 Cole Aldrich
INJURIES
F - 17 Ceanthony Early (knee) - out
C - 77 Andrea Bargnani (calf/hamstring) - out
HEAD COACH
Derek Fisher
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Pts - Carmelo Anthony 22.7
Reb - Amar'e Stoudemire 7.9
Ast - Carmelo Anthony 3.3
Blk - Samuel Delambert 1.4
Stl - Shane Larkin 1.3
FG - Amar'e Stoudemire 56.0%
FT - Carmelo Anthony 77.9%
3pt - Pablo Prigioni 48.1%
Angi's Take
The Blazers come in winners of 12 of their last 13 games. Aldridge has registered seven straight double-doubles and has an excellent opportunity to extend that to eight. Lillard paced the Blazers with 23 points in their win over Indiana. Batum scored 13 points against the Pacers after dishing out 13 assists in the previous contest at Denver. Matthews will get the defensive assignment on Shumpert, who seems to have a certain allergy to passing the ball. The Blazers could exploit Delambert and have a big night. Kaman should have absolutely no trouble against Jason Smith. Freeland could have a nice night against the Knicks, and Crabbe and Blake will have their opportunities against the Knicks second unit. The Knicks have dropped nine of their last 10 games, and their lone victory came against the winless 76ers at home. Carmelo Anthony is the face of the team and scored 32 in their loss to the Hornets. Stoudemire is not the player he was with Phoenix, but he can still be formidable in stretches. Calderon is a capable point guard and Hardaway is turning into one. Prigioni is an offensive threat who can nail the three. Delambert is a career backup, but has experience and will be asked to fill Bargnani's shoes for the foreseeable future. Shumpert is an offense-first combo guard who lacks defensive skills. J.R. Smith is a veteran who can give opponents problems on occasion. A key advantage for the Blazers would be for Matthews to post up Shumpert, as the latter lacks the physicality to handle the Iron Man. Rebounding, controlling the pace and forcing the Knicks into taking low percentage shots are the main keys to a Blazers victory. Matchup to watch: Nicolas Batum vs. Carmelo Anthony.
OFFICIALS
Bill Kennedy, Brian Forte, Scott Twardoski
QUOTABLE
Blazers coach Terry Stotts on winning despite not playing your best: “We’ve won games where we haven’t shot the ball that well. It’s important that we’re able to do that. I would love to shoot over 50 percent every night and score 120, but the reality is we have to be able to win in different ways. Knowing that we can win like this is good for us.”
Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony on nearly beating the Hornets: "A loss is a loss and you never feel good about a loss. To come back down 20 and to take the lead by one and have 4 seconds to go, I don't think you can ask for more than that. Kemba made a great play at the end and I take my hat off to him."
FEATURED TWEETS
EXTRA
CSNNW's Jamie Hudson posted her Blazers Pulse report Friday morning discussing much of the Blazers win over the Pacers the previous night. Included in her highlighted tweets was one featuring a certain Yeseeka showing her Blazers pride. Click the link in the tweet, watch the video and look out for the 1:40 mark.
MATCH UP MEME
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Graphic courtesy of David.