Post by SurferGirl on Feb 8, 2015 0:16:46 GMT -8
Portland Trail Blazers at Houston Rockets
What: The Blazers face the Rockets in Houston.
When: Sunday, Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. (pacific).
Blazers Media: TV - CSNNW; Radio - Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Rockets Media: TV - Root; Radio - 790 AM.
Previous: Dec. 22 - Rockets 110, Blazers 95.
Note: The Rockets' Joey Dorsey and the Blazers' Nicolas Batum were involved in the 2008 draft day trade which brought Batum to Portland and Dorsey to Houston. Dorsey has also played for the Kings and Raptors, as well as overseas, before returning to the Rockets this season.
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The Blazers are 34-17, 12-12 on the road and 16-11 against Western Conference opponents. They are coming off a 111-101 overtime road loss to the Mavericks on Feb. 5. They are averaging 102.5 points (8th in the NBA) and giving up 97.5 points (8th). The Blazers are first in the Northwest Division and fourth in the conference. The Rockets are 35-15, 18-7 at home and 20-10 against Western Conference opponents. They are coming off a 117-111 home win over the Bucks on Feb. 6. They are averaging 102.9 points (7th) and giving up 99.0 (11th). The Mavericks are second in the Southwest Division and third in the conference. Pictured below: Blazers' Wesley Matthews; Rockets' James Harden.
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
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - LaMarcus Aldridge 23.7
Rebounds - LaMarcus Aldridge 10.4
Assists - Damian Lillard 6.3
Blocks - Robin Lopez 1.6
Steals - Damian Lillard 1.5
FG - Chris Kaman 48.3%
FT - LaMarcus Aldridge 87.1%
3pt - Wesley Matthews 39.9%
HOUSTON ROCKETS
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 1 Trevor Ariza
PF - 20 Donatas Motijunas
C - 8 Joey Dorsey
SG - 13 James Harden
PG - 2 Patrick Beverly
RESERVES
G - 33 Corey Brewer; 0 Isaiah Canaan; Nick Johnson; 88 Alexy Shved; 31 Jason Terry
F - Terrence Jones; 16 Kostas Papanikolaou; 5 Josh Smith
C - 15 Clint Capela
INJURIES
G - 12 Dwight Howard (ankle) - out
HEAD COACH
Kevin McHale
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - James Harden 27.1
Rebounds - Dwight Howard 11.0
Assists - James Harden 6.7
Blocks - Terrence Jones 1.7
Steals - James Harden/Trevor Ariza 2.0
FG - Dwight Howard 57.5%
FT - James Harden 87.8%
3pt - James Harden 38.9%
JULIANNE'S TAKE
The Rockets are still stinging from losing to the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs last year, but who cares? This is a new season. and the Blazers are already down in the season series. The Rockets no longer have Omer Asik nor Chandler Parsons, and Howard is out. What they do have is Harden. Like him or not or like his beard or not, he is the league's leading scorer. He can make a major difference in a game. Beverly is quick and considered a good defender, but Lillard got the better of him during the playoff series between the Blazers and Rockets last season. Montijunas is a solid player, but no match for Aldridge. Lopez should have a field day inside against any of Houston's bigs. Aldridge has six straight double-doubles and now 221 for his career. Jones is no match for him so he should have a big night. Lillard shot well early against the Rockets and could have a big night. Matthews' defense on Harden will be more important than the offense he can provide. Mccollum is averaging 10 points in his last two games. If he continues that output then he could make a difference. Matchup to watch: Wesley Matthews vs. James Harden.
OFFICIALS
Bill Spooner, Tony Brown, Lauren Holtkamp.
QUOTABLE
Blazers' forward LaMarcus Aldridge on the loss to the Mavericks: "Tonight was tough, to lose like that. But we've just got to bounce back tomorrow. We outplayed them for all but two minutes. And those two minutes were the most important two minutes."
Rockets' guard James Harden on opposing Western Conference teams: "We're worried about ourselves and trying to get a rhythm, get it going a little bit. We see teams around the league going on streaks and whatnot, and they're peaking. We're going to peak very soon. For us it's about what we can control and how we can get better."
FEATURED TWEETS
EXTRA I
This will be the first game officiated by rookie NBA official Lauren Holtkamp since the Clippers' Chris Paul chastised her following the Clippers' 105-94 loss to the Cavaliers on Feb. 5. The Clippers were assessed four technicals early in the fourth quarter, including one assessed to Paul (when the game was much more out of reach than the score indicates). Paul addressed the situation, perhaps in a heated moment following the game:
"The tech that I (got) right there was ridiculous. I don't care what nobody says, I don't care what she says; that's terrible. There's no way that can be a tech. We try to get the ball out fast every time down the court and when we did that she said, 'Uh-uh.' I said, 'Why, uh-uh?' And she gave me a tech ... that's ridiculous. If that's the case, this might not be for her."
Paul has come out and said he his comments regarded the call and not the gender of the official. he has been $25,000 by the league for commenting on league officiating, which is the standard fine the NBA imposes.
EXTRA II
Will Blazers fans ever get tired of this play against the Rockets?!
MATCH UP MEME
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