Post by DiamondThief on Jan 20, 2015 20:50:48 GMT -8
Portland Trail Blazers at Phoenix Suns
What: Portland visits the desert to face off against the Suns.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. (pacific).
Blazers Media: TV - CSNNW; Radio - Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Suns Media: TV - Fox Sports Arizona; Radio - AZ Sports 98.7 FM.
Note: The teams will meet four times over the second half of the season.
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The Blazers (31-11, 12-7 on the road) are coming off a 98-94 home win over the Kings on Jan. 19. The Blazers are averaging 103.1 points (6th in the NBA) and giving up 96.9 points (2nd). The Suns (25-18, 12-7 at home) are coming off a 115-100 home win over the Lakers on Jan. 19. The Suns are averaging 107.2 points (3rd) and giving up 104.6 points (28th).
Blazers' Damian Lillard; Suns' Goran Dragic
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 88 Nicolas Batum
PF - 1 Dorell Wright
C - 35 Chris Kaman
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
C - 11 Meyers Leonard
INJURIES
F - 12 LaMarcus Aldridge (thumb) - out
C - 19 Joel Freeland (shoulder) - out
C - 42 Robin Lopez (hand) - out
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Pts - LaMarcus Aldridge 23.2
Reb - LaMarcus Aldridge 10.2
Ast - Damian Lillard 6.2
Blk - Robin Lopez 1.5
Stl - Damian Lillard 1.4
FG - Chris Kaman 48.1%
FT - LaMarcus Aldridge 86.3%
3pt - Wesley Matthews 39.3%
PHOENIX SUNS
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 17 P.J. Tucker
PF - 11 Markieff Morris
C - 21 Alex Len
SG - 1 Goran Dragic
PG - 2 Eric Bledsoe
RESERVES
G - 99 Reggie Bullock; 10 Zoran Dragic; 4 Tyler Ennis; 20 Archie Goodwin; 3 Isiah Thomas
F - 14 Gerald Green; 15 Marcus Morris; 12 TJ Warren; 32 Brandan Wright
C - 22 Miles Plumlee
INJURY REPORT
none reported
HEAD COACH
Jeff Hornacek
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - Goran Dragic 17.0
Rebounds - Alex Len 6.0
Assists - Eric Bledsoe 5.9
Blocks - Alex Len 1.6
Steals - Eric Bledsoe 1.6
FG - Goran Dragic 51.6%
FT - Gerald Green 87.4%
3pt - Isiah Thomas 39.7%
ANGI'S TAKE
Phoenix gave Portland fits last season winning three of the four matchups. The Suns, however, failed to make the playoffs. The Blazers face life without Aldridge, as well as Lopez and Freeland. It is not easy to play without your best player, but this contest in Phoenix could be a favorable one. Portland is down to Kaman, Leonard and Robinson among the bigs, along with Wright and Claver if they were to go a bit smaller. Kaman is the best option for an offensive punch among the front line, while Leonard can stretch the floor and Robinson brings a lot of energy. Matthews is second in the NBA in three pointers made and Lillard is fourth. Their offensive production (as well as defensive) will vital to a Blazers victory. A game like this could give Batum a chance to break out of his slump. Barton provides a lot of energy. If Blake steps up his offensive game, it could give the Blazers a boost. The Suns feature a potent three-guard rotation with Dragic, Bledsoe and Thomas -- essentially three point guards. Any combination of the three could do some major damage against the Blazers. Markieff Morris and his brother, Marcus, are somewhat interchangeable, but each can rebound and possess some offensive moves. If the Blazers were healthy, they should not have a problem with this. The Blazers have not rebounded well in recent games, but they could have an edge if they are active on the boards since Len leads them with just six per game, something they lacked at times against the Kings. Matchup to watch: Damian Lillard vs. Eric Bledsoe.
OFFICIALS
Ken Mauer, Sean Corbin, Scott Twardoski.
QUOTABLE
Blazers guard Will Barton on playing without Aldridge: ""Anytime you lose an All-Star and your best player it's tough. Because he brings so much leadership, scoring, rebounding. He does a lot for us. You can never replace that one person. But I feel like we got the personnel and the guys to step up and get the job done. Anytime he's went out we've kinda pulled it together and found ways to win. I'm confident in our players and our coaching staff that we can do it again."
Suns guard Isiah Thomas on his team's ability to play small ball: "We are ready to play small basketball when (coach Jeff Hornacek) calls our name and we are all out on the floor together. I think it is dynamic. You don't see it around the league and it is something we love doing and hopefully we could do it a little more."
FEATURED TWEETS
EXTRA
Bitsie Tullock, star of the Portland set-and-filmed series Grimm, celebrated her birthday on Jan. 19 by watching the Blazers scrappy come back win over beat the Kings. Bitsie has become a huge Blazers fan ...
... and I think Mike Rice is a huge Bitsie Tulloch fan
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