Post by DiamondThief on Feb 22, 2015 1:03:00 GMT -8
Memphis Grizzlies at Portland Trail Blazers
What: The Grizzlies make their second appearance of the season in Portland to take on the Blazers.
When: Sunday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. (pacific time)
Grizzlies Media: TV- SportsSouth; Radio - WMFS.
Blazers Media: TV - CSNNW; Radio - Radio - Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Previous: Nov. 28 - Grizzlies 112, Blazers 99. Jan. 17 - Grizzlies 102, Blazers 98.
Schedule: March 21 - Blazers at Grizzlies.
Note: This game will mark the Blazers debuts of Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee.
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The Grizzlies are 39-14, 16-9 on the road and 23-9 in Western Conference play. They are coming off a 105-89 road loss to the Thunder on Feb. 11. They are scoring 100.6 points per game (14th in the NBA) and allowing 95.7 (1st). The Grizzlies, who have won 10 of their last 12, are first in the Southwest Division and second in the Western Conference.
The Blazers are 36-18, 23-5 at home and 18-12 in Western Conference play. They are coming off a 92-76 road loss to the Jazz on Feb. 20. They are averaging 102.1 (9th in the NBA) and allowing 97.2 (5th). The Blazers, who have split their last 10 games, are first in the Northwest Division and fourth in the Western Conference.
Grizzlies' Marc Gasol; Blazers' Meyers Leonard
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 32 Jeff Green
PF - 30 Zach Randolph
C - 33 Marc Gasol
SG - 5 Courtney Lee
PG - 11 Mike Conley
RESERVES
G - 3 Jordan Adams; 12 Nick Calathes; 2 Russ Smith; 19 Beno Udrich
F - 9 Tony Allen; 0 JaMychal Green; 30 Jon Leuer; 1 Jarnell Stokes
C - 41 Kosta Koufos
INJURY REPORT
G - 15 Vince Carter (foot) - out
F - 9 Tony Allen (ankle/hamstring) - probable
HEAD COACH
David Joerger
STATISTICAL LEADERS (per game)
Points - Marc Gasol 18.3
Rebounds - Zach Randolph 12.0
Assists - Mike Conley 5.3
Blocks - Marc Gasol 1.7
Steals - Tony Allen 1.9
FG - Zach Randolph 49.2%
FT - Mike Conley 85.9%
3pt - Courtney Lee 44.8%
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 88 Nicolas Batum
PF - 11 Meyers Leonard
C - 42 Robin Lopez
SG - 2 Wesley Matthews
PG - 0 Damian Lillard
RESERVES
G - 4 Arron Afflalo; 5 Steve Blake; 23 Allen Crabbe; 3 CJ McCollum
F - 33 Alonzo Gee; 1 Dorell Wright
C - 35 Chris Kaman;
INJURY REPORT
F - 12 LaMarcus Aldridge (right thumb sprain) - out
C - 19 Joel Freeland (shoulder) - out
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - LaMarcus Aldridge 23.4
Rebounds - LaMarcus Aldridge 10.3
Assists - Damian Lillard 6.2
Blocks - Robin Lopez 1.6
Steals - Damian Lillard 1.5
FG - Chris Kaman 48.8%
FT - LaMarcus Aldridge 87.1%
3pt - Wesley Matthews 39.6%
ANGI'S TAKE
Both teams are coming off of 16-point losses, thought the Grizzlies have had 11 full days off and this will be their first game back from the All-Star break. They have gotten the better of the Blazers in the teams' first two meetings. Conley was one assist away from a triple-double in the Grizzlies win in the first meeting on Nov. 28. Gasol came close to a triple-double of his own that night with a 26 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists Former Blazer Randolph is averaging 17.0 points and 14.0 rebounds against the Blazers this season. Green is a decent counterpart for Batum and Lee is a very good shooter and defender. The Grizzlies possess a decent bench, led by Allen, but it is their starting unit which will do the most damage. The Blazers are coming off their worst loss of the season. Some blame rust, but the Jazz had just as many days off so that excuse does not hold water. Aldridge tallied 32 points in the Jan. 17 match up against the Grizzles after having scored 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the first game. Matthews is averaging 25.5 points and Lillard is averaging 21.5 the Grizzlies this season. Kaman has collected 11 rebounds in both games. The Blazers will look to the newly acquired Afflalo and Gee to give them both an offensive and defensive boost off the bench. The Blazers can win this if they win the rebounding battle and limit their turnovers. Matchup to watch: Zach Randolph vs. LaMarcus Aldridge.
OFFICIALS
Jason Phillips, Marat Kogut, Leroy Richardson.
QUOTEABLE
Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph on coming back from the break: "We need to come back after the break and be ready.It was a good first part of the season, but we can't be satisfied. We've got to come back and be ready."
Blazers GM Neil Olshey on the addition of Arron Afflalo: "I know he can help us. We had a very specific set of criteria for anybody that we were going to acquire and Arron met every single criteria that we had established. I think our veteran players are happy to add him, it gives us a better chance to win at a high level. That's the goal this year: we're in a win-now mode."
FEATURED TWEETS
EXTRA I
Via Blazers reporter Casey Holdahl, audio of Arron Afflalo's first Blazer interview:
https%3A//soundcloud.com/caseyholdahl/022115-arron-afflalo-introduced
Via Blazers reporter Casey Holdahl, audio of Alonzo Gee's first Blazer interview:
https%3A//soundcloud.com/caseyholdahl/022115-alonzo-gee-introduced
EXTRA II
Blazers basketball isn't the only game in town, at least not on Feb. 21. The Harlem Globetrotters were in town to take on their arch-nemesis Washington Generals. The game was tied, 86-86, at the end of regulation. The Generals won the coin flip to start overtime (yes, a coin flip!), but failed to score. The Globetrotters then put the game away in the sudden-death overtime period. therealslp caught the final tally.
MATCH UP MEME I
MATCH UP MEME II
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Graphic courtesy of David.
