Post by Kasey on Feb 3, 2015 11:31:18 GMT -8
Utah Jazz at Portland Trail Blazers
What: The Jazz make their first appearance of the season in Rip City to take on the Blazers.
When: Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. (pacific time)
Jazz Media: TV- Root Sports; Radio - KZNS.
Blazers Media: TV - CSNNW; Radio - Radio - Rip City Radio 620 AM.
National Media: NBAtv
Previous: N/A.
Note: All four of the meetings between the teams take place in the second half of the season.
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The Jazz are 17-30, 8-16 on the road and 3-3 against division opponents. They are coming off a 110-100 road win over the Warriors on Jan. 30. They are scoring 95.9 points per game (22th in the NBA) and allowing 98.4 (10th). The Jazz, who have won three of their last five, are fourth in the Northwest Division and 13th in the Western Conference. The Blazers are 32-16, 20-5 at home and 6-1 in division play. They are coming off a 95-88 road loss to the Bucks on Jan. 31. They are averaging 102.4 (8th) and allowing 97.3 (7th). The Blazers, who have lost eight of their last 10, are first in the Northwest Division and fifth in the Western Conference. Pictured below: Utah's Trey Burke and Portland's Damian Lillard.
UTAH JAZZ
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 20 Gordon Hayward
PF - 15 Derrick Favors
C - 0 Enes Kanter
SG - 2 Joe Ingels
PG - 11 Dante Exum
RESERVES
G - 3 Trey Burke; 21 Ian Clark; 5 Rodney Hood; 13 Elijah Millsap
F - 33 Trevor Booker; 40 Jeremy Evans; 23 Chris Johnson; 16 Steve Novak
C - 27 Rudy Gobert;
INJURIES
G - 10 Alec Burks (shoulder) - out
F - 5 Rodney Hood (foot) - out
F - 40 Jeremy Evans (illness) - questionable
HEAD COACH
Quin Snyder
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - Gordon Hayward 19.2
Rebounds - Derrick Favors 8.5
Assists - Trey Burke 4.8
Blocks - Rudy Gobert 2.2
Steals - Gordon Hayward 1.4
FG - Derrick Favors 54.2%
FT - Alec Burks 82.2%
3pt - Gordon Hayward 37.9%
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; 3 CJ McCollum
F - 18 Victor Claver; 41 Thomas Robinson; 1 Dorell Wright
C - 35 Chris Kaman; 11 Meyers Leonard
INJURIES
C - 19 Joel Freeland (shoulder) - out
C - 42 Robin Lopez (hand) - probable
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - LaMarcus Aldridge 23.8
Rebounds - LaMarcus Aldridge 10.3
Assists - Damian Lillard 6.3
Blocks - Robin Lopez 1.5
Steals - Damian Lillard 1.4
FG - Chris Kaman 48.7%
FT - LaMarcus Aldridge 88.1%
3pt - Wesley Matthews 40.0%
KASEY'S TAKE
The Jazz's record does not show how tough they can be to match up against. Hayward is a great shooter and all-around player who scored 26 points and hauled down 15 rebounds in the team's win over the Warriors. Favors and Aldridge always have good match ups. Burke is a quick point guard who can cause damage, though he came off the bench against the Warriors. Both Kanter and Gobert are tough defenders in the middle. Booker scored 17 against the Warriors. The Jazz are a hindered by the loss of shooting guard Alec Burks, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury. The Jazz are a strong, young team who is only getting better. The big news for the Blazers is that Robin Lopez is expected to be back after being out for the past seven weeks with a fractured right hand. The team has missed his presence in the middle during that time. Aldridge, who is playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb, is averaging nearly 30 points and 11 rebounds in the four games he has been back. Lillard has struggled from the field over the past eight games, but could have a bounce back game. Matthews leads the NBA in made three pointers and is always lethal from downtown. Kaman, Blake and Leonard lead the Blazers second unit. The keys for the Blazers will be to win the rebounding edge and cut down on turnovers. Matchup to watch: Derrick Favors vs. LaMarcus Aldridge..
OFFICIALS
James Capers, Tre Maddox, Gary Zielinski.
QUOTEABLE
Jazz coach Quin Snyder on Gordon Hayward: "It was good to see (Hayward) get energized and get some of his juice back. I think he's always risen to a challenge in a (big) matchup. He played really well and played really hard. ... The biggest thing is his rebounding."
Blazers' guard Wesley Matthews on the team's recent rough stretch: "We're not playing well. We're not doing what we're supposed to do. But, with stretches like this, we've got the talent to overcome it, and we're going to."
FEATURED TWEETS
EXTRA
Fresh off his all-star snub, Damian Lillard has shown up on the cover of Slam magazine.
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