GAME THREAD: BLAZERS @ CELTICS - NOVEMBER 23, 2014; SUNDAY, 3 PM (PST), CSNNW

S T A R T E R S




PG
DAMIAN LILLARD VS RAJON RONDO

SG
WESLEY MATTHEWS VS AVERY BRADLEY

SF
NICOLAS BATUM VS JEFF GREEN

PF
LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE VS JARED SULLINGER

C
ROBIN LOPEZ VS KELLY OLYNYK







WHEN: 3:00 PM, SUNDAY, 11/23/2014​

WHERE: TD Garden, Boston, MA ​

TV BROADCAST:





RADIO BROADCAST:


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BENCH

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

BLAKE , BARTON , CRABBE , FREELAND , KAMAN

BOSTON CELTICS

PRESSEY , THORNTON , TURNER , BASS , ZELLER





INJURIES
TRAIL BLAZERS
CJ McCollum (fractured index finger): OUT
CELTICS
Marcus Smart (left ankle sprain): OUT
Vitor Faverani (left knee surgery): OUT




HEAD COACHES
- VS –
TERRY STOTTS --- BRAD STEVENS




BLAZERS' GAME NOTES ​

GO BLAZERS!!!​

 

Blazers @ BOS Game Preview (11/23/14):

Our Last game: v. CHI 11/21/14 W 105-87. Damian Lillard had 21 points and nine assists to help the Trail Blazers beat the short-handed Chicago Bulls 105-87 on Friday night. Portland led 61-42 at the half.
LaMarcus Aldridge had two 3-pointers, and passed to Robin Lopez for a dunk to put Portland up 70-45 before the Blazers sat their starters for the final period.
Their Last game: L 117-100 @ MEM: Kelly Olynyk led Boston with 18 points. Jared Sullinger had 13 points, Jeff Green added 12, while Avery Bradley and Marcus Thornton finished with 11 points each.

Changes to their roster:

Injury Updates Portland: Nic Batum (out), CJ McCollum (out). Boston: Marcus Smart (out)

Matchups:

PG: Damian Lillard v. Rajon Rondo (9.8ppg, 11apg, 7.7rpg) There may not be anyone playing better than Dame in the league right now (though someone’s going to talk about Anthony Davis). Rondo has been his normal walking-triple-double stat machine, but 33% (!!??!) from FT and his normal FG inefficiency combine to not help the team much when he does hang on to the ball.

SG: Wesley Matthews v. Avery Bradley (14.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.2 apg)

SF: Nic Batum/Allen Crabbe v. Jeff Green (18.4ppg, 5.3 rpg) Green’s never lived up to the hype of the #5 pick in the Durant/Oden/Noah/Horford draft, but he’s evolved into a steady scorer and one that can put up 20 on you in a blink. Crabbe’s looked solid defensively in his time spelling Batum, and with Nic (mostly) back, I’m less worried about the BOS wings than previously the case.

PF: LaMarcus Aldridge v. Jared Sullinger. (15.7ppg, 8.5rpg) LMA should have a big night against whoever draws primary duty on him. He can handle both Sullinger and Olynyk down low, and if Bass comes in it could be a field day.

C: Robin Lopez v. Kelly Olynyk (12.9ppg, 5.9 rpg)

Give-a-Rip (City) Factor—a.k.a. why you should watch: To see if Portland can keep up their streak of hot play when they go on the road. To see if they can put up 140 against a team that can go up-and-down with them, but who plays Ike Diogu defense. To see if MickZagger’s favorite non-Blazer is worth the hype, is “just” a legit NBA player or is just a long-haired Meyers Leonar_ wanna-be.

Current Power Rankings:

RipCityTwo (PtldPlatypus): (26) I am in awe of the lack of outside shooting on this roster. Is Olynyk actually their best deep threat?

ESPN: (22) Perhaps it's a little easier for Celts fans to take knowing LeBron had to score a season-high 41 to spark an epic Cavs comeback or perhaps not. Until Friday night's collapse, Boston hadn't lost a game at home after entering the fourth quarter with a lead of 17 or more since March 1988 against Philly.

NBA.com (19) Pace: 98.8 (4), OffRtg: 107.9 (6), DefRtg: 109.7 (27), NetRtg: -1.8 (19)
After Cleveland, the Celtics have the league's most improved offense, which has been particularly good when floor-spacers Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk have played together. But they've allowed their opponents to score 60-plus points in the second half of their last three games (four overall) and have blown leads of 15-plus in the last two.

covers.com (23) The league's top Over team. They are No. 3 in scoring, but unfortunately (for them) also third worst in terms of points allowed.

Link to Grandpa Blaze's Prediction Game
MediocreMan's Over/Under game not available on weekends.

Links to other team’s site(s) NBA.com

Final Thoughts While POR has not demonstrated dominance on the road yet, BOS has shown that, while they can score some points, there are more than capable of giving up some really crooked numbers. They are 3rd-worst in the league in giving up first-quarter points, so I’m thinking that POR should jump out to a big lead, hold on for most of the game and it’ll only be a matter of when Coach Stotts calls off the dogs.

Blazers 125
BOS 108

 

I thought everyone lived in igloos?

 

Rep'd for the johnny dangerously reference, lol.