Post by DiamondThief on Mar 19, 2015 13:37:45 GMT -8
Portland Trail Blazers at Orlando Magic
What: The Blazers make their lone trip to the land of DisneyWorld to battle the Magic.
When: Friday, March 20 at 4 p.m. (PT).
Blazers Media: TV - CSNNW. Radio - Rip City Radio 620 AM.
Magic Media: TV - FS Florida - ESPN 580/1440 AM.
Previous: Jan. 10 - Blazers 103, Magic 92.
Schedule: N/A.
Note: LaMarcus Aldridge needs just nine rebounds to become the Blazers all-time rebounding leader (see graphic below).
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The Blazers are 44-22, 16-16 on the road and 20-8 in interconference games. They are coming off a 108-104 road loss to the Heat on March 18. They are averaging 102.8 points (8th in the NBA) and allowing 97.7 (7th). The Blazers, who have won eight of their last 11, are first in the Northwest Division and fourth in the Western Conference.
The Magic are 21-49, 11-22 at home and 8-18 in interconference games. They are coming off a 107-102 road loss to the Mavericks on March 18. They are averaging 95.3 points (22nd in the NBA) and allowing 101.8 (21st). The Magic, who have lost six straight, are fifth in the Southeast Division and 14th in the Eastern Conference.
Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge; Magic's Nikola Vucevic
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 88 Nicolas Batum (9.6 pts, 5.8 reb, 4.9 ast)
PF - 12 LaMarcus Aldridge (23.5 pts, 10.5 reb, 1.8 ast)
C - 42 Robin Lopez (9.8 pts, 6.9 reb, 1.0 ast)
SG - 4 Arron Afflalo (13.9 pts, 3.2 reb, 1.8 ast)
PG - 0 Damian Lillard (21.2 pts, 4.8 reb, 6.2 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 23.5
Rebounds - LaMarcus Aldridge 10.5
Assists - Damian Lillard 6.2
Blocks - Robin Lopez 1.6
Steals - Damian Lillard 1.3
FG - Robin Lopez 52.9%
FT - Damian Lillard 85.6%
3pt - Meyers Leonard 44.0%
ORLANDO MAGIC
PROJECTED STARTERS
SF - 21 Maurice Harkless (3.9 pts, 2.5 reb, 0.7 ast)
PF - 8 Channing Frye (7.5 pts, 4.0 reb, 1.3 ast)
C - 9 Nikola Vucevic (19.3 pts, 11.2 reb, 1.9 ast)
SG - 5 Victor Oladipo (17.6 pts, 4.1 reb, 4.1 ast)
PG - 4 Elfrid Payton (8.5 pts, 4.0 reb, 6.1 ast)
RESERVES
G - 7 Ben Gordon; 34 Willie Green; 13 Luke Ridnour
F - 00 Aaron Gordon; 12 Tobias Harris; 44 Andrew Nicholson; 2 Kyle O-Quinn
C - 3 DeWayne Dedmon
INJURIES
G - 10 Evan Fournier (hip) - out
G - 34 Willie Green (back) - questionable
F - 12 Tobias Harris (ankle) - questionable
F - 11 Devyn Marble (eye) - out
C - 3 DeWayne Dedmon (ankle) - questionable
HEAD COACH
James Borrego
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points - Nikola Vucevic 19.3
Rebounds - Nikola Vucevic 11.2
Assists - Elfrid Payton 6.1
Blocks - DeWayne Dedmon 0.9
Steals - Victor Oladipo 1.7
FG - DeWayne Dedmon 56.7%
FT - Channing Frye 87.5%
3pt - Channing Frye 39.7%
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 33 games, as well as other basic statistical minimums.
ANGI'S TAKE
The Blazers have dropped the last two games of their eastern road trip. The Magic look to end their eight-game skid. Aldridge has a monster game for the Blazers in the loss to the Heat going for 34 points and 12 rebounds. He scored 25 in the first meeting between the Blazers and Magic. Lillard scored 16 in that game. The Blazers are looking for a third option, whether it be Afflalo or Batum. Afflalo will be matched against the talented Oladipo. Batum's strength is his all-around game on both ends of the floor. Lopez will have his hands full with Vucevic. Kaman pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds off the bench for the Blazers against the Heat and could be primed for a big game. Wright is back in the rotation after Matthews' injury and provides some decent defense and rebounding. For the Magic, Vucevic is perhaps the top center in the Eastern Conference and can hurt opponents on both ends of the court. Oladipo is a focal point of the Magic. He scored 18 points and gathered 8 rebounds in the first meeting. Payton had a triple-double in the Magic's loss to the Mavericks (15 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists). The starting forward duo of Harkless and former Blazer Frye is unlikely to provide a huge offensive punch. Gordon and Ridnour are the veterans of the bench group, while Dedmon is an adequate defender. The Blazers will win this if they control the pace, limit turnovers and hold Vucevic to under 18 points and 10 rebounds. Matchup to watch: Robin Lopez vs. Nikola Vucevic.
OFFICIALS
Bennett Salvatore, Curtis Blair, David Guthrie.
QUOTABLE
Blazers' Batum on bouncing back: “We’ve got to do a better job. We can’t lose two in a row like this… So we’ve got to get back on track and win the next one in Orlando.”
Magic coach Borrego on Payton's triple-double against the Mavericks: "I think we could all say maybe he gets to the rim. They gave him that shot, he pulled up, he shoots it with confidence, we live with it. And we trust him in that situation. This won't be the last time he's there."
FEATURED TWEETS
EXTRA
9 for the tie, 10 for the lead: LaMarcus Aldridge is just 10 rebounds away from becoming the Blazers all-time leading rebounder. As he is averaing 10.5 per game, he will quite possibly reach the milestone in this game.
MATCH UP MEME
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Graphic courtesy of David.