Post by DiamondThief on Mar 2, 2015 19:42:20 GMT -8
Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Clippers
What: The Blazers are in la la land to face the Clippers.
When: Wednesday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m. (PT).
Blazers Media: TV - CSNNW; Radio - Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Clippers Media: TV - Prime Ticket - Radio - The Beast 980/KWKW 1.
National Media: TV - ESPN.
Previous: Nov. 8 - Clippers 106, Blazers 102. January 14 - Clippers 100, Blazers 94.
Schedule: April 1 - Clippers at Blazers.
Note: If the playoffs started today, these teams would face each other in the first round.
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The Blazers are 39-19, 14-13 on the road and 21-13 in conference play. They are coming off a 110-99 road win over the Kings on March 1. They are averaging 102.5 points (8th in the NBA) and allowing 97.4 (6th). The Blazers, who have won three straight and seven of their last 10, are first in the Northwest Division and fourth in the Western Conference.
The Clippers are 40-21, 23-8 at home and 26-10 in conference play. They are coming off a 110-105 road win over the Timberwolves on March 2. They are scoring 106.6 (2nd in the NBA) and allowing 100.3 (16th). The Clippers, who have won six of their last eight, are second in the Pacific Division and fifth in the Western Conference.
Clippers' Chris Paul; Blazers' Damian Lillard
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 - 4 Arron Afflalo; 5 Steve Blake; 23 Allen Crabbe; 3 CJ McCollum
F - 33 Alonzo Gee; 1 Dorell Wright
C - 19 Joel Freeland; 35 Chris Kaman; 11 Meyers Leonard
INJURY REPORT
none reported
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - LaMarcus Aldridge 23.3
Rebounds - LaMarcus Aldridge 10.5
Assists - Damian Lillard 6.2
Blocks - Robin Lopez 1.5
Steals - Damian Lillard 1.4
FG - LaMarcus Aldridge 45.4%
FT - LaMarcus Aldridge 87.0%
3pt - Wesley Matthews 39.4%
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 1 Jordan Hamilton
PF - 10 Spencer Hawes
C - 6 DeAndre Jordan
SG - 4 J.J. Redick
PG - 3 Chris Paul
RESERVES
G - 11 Jamal Crawford; 31 Dahntay Jones; 25 Austin Rivers; 30 CJ Wilcox
F - 0 Glen Davis; 15 Hedo Turkoglu; 13 Ekpe Edoh
INJURIES
G - 11 Jamal Crawford (calf) - out
F - 22 Matt Barnes (hamstring) - out
F - 32 Blake Griffin (elbow) - out
HEAD COACH
Doc Rivers
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - Blake Griffin 22.5
Rebounds - DeAndre Jordan 14.4
Assists - Chris Paul 10.0
Blocks - DeAndre Jordan 2.3
Steals - Chris Paul 1.8
FG - DeAndre Jordan 71.7%
FT - Jamal Crawford 90.3%
3pt - J.J. Redick 42.9%
ANGI'S TAKE
This will be a battle of two playoff contenders who are each jockeying for playoff positioning. The Clippers will be without Griffin, but will likely start Hawes in order to stretch the floor. For the Blazers, Aldridge is averaging 29.0 points and 11.0 boards against the Clippers this season, including a game-high 37 points on Jan. 14. Lillard, the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, is at 20.0 points and flirted with a triple-double in the first match up on Nov. 8. Lopez, whose hand injury kept him out on Jan. 14, tallied 19 points on Nov. 8. Matthews poured in 17 in the Blazers last game, a win over the Kings. Kaman scored 15 and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Meyers Leonard also registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, in the Jan. 14 game. For the Clippers, Paul and Crawford each are averaging 22.5 points against the the Blazers. Paul is also dishing out 10.5 assists. Jordan has a total of 32 rebounds in the two games against the Blazers, and is on an eight-game streak of corralling at least 15 rebounds. Redick scored 30 points against the Blazers on Nov. 8 in a starting role. The Clippers' bench scored just 5 points in that game. The Blazers can win this if they can limit Jordan inside and on the glass, in addition to protecting the ball and shooting at least 47 percent. Matchup to watch: Damian Lillard vs. Chris Paul.
OFFICIALS
Scott Foster, David Guthrie, Gary Zielinski.
QUOTABLE
Blazers guard Wesley Matthews on building momentum: “We’re just building on what we did against San Antonio, building on what we did against OKC and just continue to try and get better, continue to try to reach that point where teams aren’t coming back on us. We understand it’s going to happen. It’s the NBA; it’s a game of runs.”
Clippers coach Doc Rivers after the Jan. 14 game: "It's one of those rare regular-season, playoff-type of games. They're a lot of fun to get into, but you don't get a lot of those. We didn't go into it that way, but it turned into that."
FEATURED TWEETS
EXTRA
How great of a sight is this?
JEROME KERSEY MEMORIAL
The Blazers akd Kersey family held a public memorial for the late Jerome Kersey on March 2 Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the Blazers played while Kersey played for them. The following are videos (my apologies for the quality) of his daughter, Kiara, and his wife, Teri, as they spoke at the service. Kiara's video is first here, followed by Teri's.
MATCH UP MEME
Robin Lopez's war on mascots continues, as several of them (including Blaze) were on hand at the Blazers-Kings game for Kings' mascot Slamson's birthday. During the game, things got a little chippy between Lopez and Kings' forward Reggie Evans.
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Graphic courtesy of David.
