Post by DiamondThief on Jan 24, 2015 0:51:08 GMT -8
Washington Wizards at Portland Trail Blazers
What: The uprising Wizards make their lone appearance of the season in the Rose City to face the Blazers.
When: Thursday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.
Wizards Media: TV - CSN; Radio - WNEW 99.1 FM/WFED.
Blazers Media: TV - CSNNW; Radio - Rip City Radio 620AM.
National Media: TV - NBAtv
Previous: N/A
Note: The teams split the season series last year; each team won at home.
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The Wizards (29-14, 11-8 on the road, and 9-6 against the Western Conference). They are situated in second in the Southeast Division and second in the Eastern Conference. They are coming off a 105-103 road loss in overtime on Jan. 21. The Wizards are scoring 99.6 points (16th in the NBA) and are allowing 97.1 points (3rd). The Blazers (31-13, 19-5 at home and 17-3 against the Eastern Conference). They are first in the Northwest Division and third in the Western Conference. They are coming off a 90-89 home loss to the Celtics on Jan. 22. The Blazers are scoring 103.0 points (8th) and allowing 97.2 points (4th).
Wizards' Bradley Beal; Blazers' Damian Lillard
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 34 Paul Pierce
PF - 42 Nene
C - 4 Marcin Gortat
SG - 3 Bradley Beal
PG - 2 John Wall
RESERVES
G - 24 Andre Miller; 17 Garrett Temple; 9 Martell Webster
F - 45 Dejuan Blair; 8 Rasual Butler; 90 Drew Gooden; 43 Kris Humphries; 22 Otto Porter
C - 13 Kevin Seraphin
INJURIES
no injuries reported
HEAD COACH
Randy Wittman
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - John Wall 17.0
Rebounds - Marcin Gortat 8.2
Assists - John Wall 10.0
Blocks - Marcin Gortat 1.4
Steals - John Wall 2.1
FG - Marcin Gortat 54.7%
FT - Bradley Beal 82.6%
3pt - Rasual Butler 46.3%
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 23 Allen Crabbe
PF - 12 LaMarcus Aldridge
C - 35 Chris Kaman
SG - 2 Wesley Matthews
PG - 0 Damian Lillard
RESERVES
G - 5 Will Barton; 25 Steve Blake; 3 CJ McCollum
F - 18 Victor Claver; 41 Thomas Robinson; Dorell Wright
C - 11 Meyers Leonard
INJURY REPORT
F - 12 LaMarcus Aldridge (thumb) - probable
F - 88 Nicolas Batum (wrist) - doubtful
C - 19 Joel Freeland (shoulder) - out
C - 35 Chris Kaman (leg) - questionable
C - 42 Robin Lopez (hand) - out
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - LaMarcus Aldridge 23.2
Rebounds - LaMarcus Aldridge 10.5
Assists - Damian Lillard 6.2
Blocks - Robin Lopez 1.5
Steals - Damian Lillard 1.4
FG - Chris Kaman 49.0%
FT - LaMarcus Aldridge 86.3%
3pt - Wesley Matthews 39.7%
ANGI'S TAKE
The Wizards are one of the more formidable teams in the Eastern Conference and it's not difficult to see why. Wall and Beal are one of the NBA's more dynamic backcourts and play off of each other well. Wall, who was voted an eastern all-star starter last week, leads the league in assists and is the only player averaging in double figures in points and assists. To compliment the backcourt, the Wizards start essentially two centers in Gortat and Nene; the latter of whom scored a team-high 24 points in the team's loss to the Thunder Wednesday night. Former Celtic Pierce rounds out the lineup and is always a formidable weapon. The bench is talented, featuring Humphries and Seraphin, as well as former Blazers Miller and Webster. Aldridge, who said he tested his injured thumb Saturday morning, will play with a splint. (BREAKING: Aldridge to play with splint). Given the injury is to his non-shooting (left) hand, he still will be a force to be reckoned with. That said, the Blazers will have to rely on their own backcourt for their scoring punch. Lillard is the marquee player and will need to take control of the game early, while battling Wall. Unfortunately, he has shot just 32.6 percent from the field over his past four games. Matthews is capable of having an explosive game. He hit four straight three pointers in the third quarter in Thursday's loss to the Celtics and always has the capability to light it up from three-point land. Kaman is listed as questionable, but my gut says he will play. Should Batum be unable to play, I look for Crabbe to start in his place as he did earlier in the season. For the bench, the Blazers will have to get solid performances from Leonard, Robinson, Blake, McCollum and Wright. The Blazers can win this is they control the battle of the boards, limit turnovers and shoot at least 46 percent from the field. Matchup to watch: John Wall vs. Damian Lillard.
OFFICIALS
Ron Garretson, Violet Palmer, Josh Tiven.
QUOTABLE
Wizards forward Paul Pierce: "We have to come off this West Coast trip better than we did the last one. It's that time of the season where we've got to start peaking. We've got to make a little run if we want to catch Atlanta (for the best record in the East). Everybody understands the importance of this trip."
Blazers guard Damian Lillard (on hearing prior to the Celtic's game that Aldridge would be out 6-8 weeks): "That was the last thing I wanted to hear. It's not like we can stop our schedule until he gets healthy. We just gotta keep on moving forward and try to win games."
FEATURED TWEETS
The twitter world blew up Saturday morning when it was reported that Aldridge would play in this game. The all-star power forward, who was expected to be out for 6-8 weeks with a torn ligament in his thumb, has put off surgery and will play with a splint.
EXTRA
Not to toot my own horn, but I had a couple of tweets on Trail Blazers Pulse after Thursday's game.
MATCH UP MEME
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Graphic courtesy of David.
