Post by SurferGirl on Mar 17, 2015 22:25:18 GMT -8
Portland Trail Blazers at Miami Heat
What: The Blazers make their lone trip to south beach to face the Heat.
When: Wednesday, March 18 at 4:30 p.m. (PT).
Blazers Media: TV - CSNNW. Radio - Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Heat Media: TV - Sun Sports. Radio - 104.3 The Ticket.
Previous: Jan. 8 - Blazers 99, Heat 83.
Schedule: N/A.
Note: This is the third game of the Blazers five-game, seven-day road trip.
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The Blazers are 44-21, 16-15 on the road and 20-7 in interconference games. They are coming off a 105-97 road loss to the Wizards March 16. They are averaging 102.8 points (8th in the NBA) and allowing 97.6 (9th). The Blazers, who have won eight of their last 10, are first in the Northwest Division and third in the Western Conference.
The Wizards are 30-36, 15-18 at home and 10-16 in interconference games. They are coming off a 106-92 home win over the Cavaliers on March 16. They are averaging 94.7 points (24th in the NBA) and allowing 97.0 (7th). The Wizards, who have won five of their last eight, are third in the Southeast Division and eight in the Eastern Conference.
Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge; Heat's Chris Anderson
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 88 Nicolas Batum (9.6 pts, 5.9 reb, 4.9 ast)
PF - 12 LaMarcus Aldridge (23.3 pts, 10.5 reb, 1.8 ast)
C - 42 Robin Lopez (9.9 pts, 6.9 reb, 1.0 ast)
SG - 4 Arron Afflalo (13.9 pts, 3.3 reb, 1.8 ast)
PG - 0 Damian Lillard (21.3 pts, 4.8 reb, 6.3 ast)
RESERVES
G - 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
G - 2 Wesley Matthews (achilles) - out
HEAD COACH
Terry Stotts
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - LaMarcus Aldridge 23.3
Rebounds - LaMarcus Aldridge 10.5
Assists - Damian Lillard 6.3
Blocks - Robin Lopez 1.6
Steals - Damian Lillard 1.3
FG - Robin Lopez 53.0%
FT - LaMarcus Aldridge 86.2%
3pt - Meyers Leonard 44.6%
MIAMI HEAT
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 9 Luol Deng (14.2 pts, 5.0 reb, 2.0 ast)
PF - 40 Udonis Haslem (3.6 pts, 3.6 reb, 0.7 ast)
C - 21 Hassan Whiteside (11.0 pts, 9.9 reb, 0.1 ast)
SG - 3 Dwayne Wade (21.6 pts, 3.7 reb, 5.2 ast)
PG - 7 Goran Dragic 16.3 pts, 3.5 reb, 4.3 ast)
RESERVES
G - 15 Mario Chalmers; 12 Zoran Dragic; 8 Tyler Johnson; 13 Shabazz Napier
F - 11 Chris Anderson; 30 Michael Beasley; 32 James Ennis; 5 Henry Walker
INJURIES
F - 4 Josh McRoberts (knee) - out
F - 1 Chris Bosh (chest) - out
HEAD COACH
Erik Spoelstra
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - Dwayne Wade 21.6
Rebounds - Hassan Whiteside 9.9
Assists - Dwayne Wade 5.2
Blocks - Hassan Whiteside 2.4
Steals - Mario Chalmers 1.6
FG - Hassan Whiteside 62.1%
FT - James Ennis 85.5%
3pt - Shabazz Napier 36.8%
NOTE: We use a different standard than the NBA for the individual statistical leaders. Our leaders apply to players who have played at least half their teams' games this season; in this case, roughly 32 games, as well as other basic statistical minimums.
JULIANNE'S TAKE
The Blazers look get back on the winning track after their loss to the Wizards, while the Heat are trying to secure playoff positioning. For the Blazers, Aldridge scored 24 points and gathered 12 rebounds in the first meeting. Lillard scored 16 points and collected 8 rebounds in that game. Batum's all-around game has been key in the latest Blazers surge. Afflalo is looking more comfortable with the starting unit and will likely get the defensive assignment on Wade. Lopez will be key against Whiteside. Kaman has been solid as of late and Blake has both shot and passed the ball well this month. Leonard, Wright and McCollum also provide the punch off the Blazers bench. With LeBron James' departure to the Cavaliers and Bosh sidelined with injury, Wade is singlehandedly trying to ignite the Heat 's playoff run. He scored 32 points in the win over the Cavaliers. He had 23 in the Jan. 8 loss to Portland. Whiteside is having a breakout year and can defend the paint. Dragic, who came over in a trade-deadline deal with the Suns, scored 20 points and dished 9 assists in the win over the Cavaliers. Deng is a capable scorer and is always primed to have a big night. Haslem is mostly a defensive-minded power forward and it should be interesting to see how he plays Aldridge. Chalmers, Anderson and Beasley lead the Heat bench. Matchup to watch: Arron Afflalo vs. Dwayne Wade.
OFFICIALS
Ed Malloy, Kane Fitzgerald, Justin Van Duyne.
QUOTABLE
Blazers' coach Stotts on beating the Heat on Jan. 8: "We just came out with a little more energy, a little more focus. We played a very good defensive second half. Obviously the third quarter made a big difference. We got a rhythm to our shots, got out and played in the flow a little bit. ... The second half was the way we needed to play."
Heat's Wade after the win over the Cavs: "This is who we are right now. We have to figure out ways to win. We have enough to win games and we just have to understand that it is hard to win games. We can't just come into a game and figure it out - we have to go from the beginning to the end."
FEATURED TWEETS
EXTRA
20 To Go: LaMarcus Aldridge is just 20 rebounds away from tying Clyde Drexler for first place on the Blazers all-time rebounding list. If he follows his average of 10.5, he will surpass Drexler on March 20 in Orlando.
MATCH UP MEME
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Graphic courtesy of David.