Game Thread GAME# 15: KNICKS @ BLAZERS - JANUARY 24, 2021 - SUNDAY, 7:00 PM, NBCSNW

[Darkwebs]

2020-21 REGULAR SEASON RECORD
NEW YORK KNICKS
8 - 9
(5-5 Road)
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
8 - 6
(4-4 Home)

______________________________
---------PROBABLE STARTERS---------

PG

ELFRID PAYTON VS DAMIAN LILLARD

SG

RJ BARRETT VS RODNEY HOOD

SF

REGGIE BULLOCK VS DERRICK JONES Jr.

PF

JULIUS RANDLE VS ROBERT COVINGTON

C

MITCHELL ROBINSON VS ENES KANTER

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------- JERSEYS -------

---

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WHEN: 7:00 PM (PST), SUNDAY, 1/24/2021

WHERE: Moda Center, Portland, OR

TV BROADCAST:

RADIO BROADCAST:

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--------------RESERVES --------------

----- NEW YORK KNICKS -----

HARPER , SMITH Jr. , RIVERS

QUICKLEY , PINSON , BURKS

BRAZDEIKIS , KNOX II

TOPPIN , GIBSON , NOEL


---- PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS ----

SIMONS , TRENT Jr. , BLEVINS

ELLEBY , LITTLE

ANTHONY , GILES



INJURIES
KNICKS
Austin Rivers (sore rigth Achilles): QUESTIONABLE
Frank Ntilikina (right knee sprain): OUT
TRAIL BLAZERS
C.J. McCollum (left foot fracture): OUT
Jusuf Nurkic (right wrist fracture): OUT
Zach Collins (left ankle stress fracture): OUT



HEAD COACHES

- VS –

TOM THIBODEAU ------- TERRY STOTTS



OFFICIAL KNICKS' GAME NOTES
OFFICIAL BLAZERS' GAME NOTES ​

• The Trail Blazers Jan. 24 game against the Knicks is the first of two meetings between Portland and New York this season. The second matchup will come on Feb. 6.

• LAST SEASON: The Trail Blazers and Knicks split the season series in 2019-20, 1-1. Portland has won six of the last seven overall matchups between the two teams.

• Damian Lillard averaged 21.0 points (40.0% FG, 45.0% 3-PT, 100% FT), 6.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in two games against New York last season.

• In two games against the Knicks last season, Carmelo Anthony averaged 21.0 points (53.3% FG, 66.7% 3-PT, 50.0% FT), 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals.

• Julius Randle averaged 18.5 points (53.8% FG, 40.0% 3-PT, 71.4% FT), 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in two games against Portland last season. Randle's career-high in scoring (45) also came against the Trail Blazers on Mar. 15, 2019.

• HEAD-TO-HEAD HISTORY:
ALL TIME: Trail Blazers lead, 67-48
PORTLAND HOME: Trail Blazers lead, 43-14
NEW YORK HOME: Knickss lead, 34-24

 

[Darkwebs]

By the time this game starts, it will be nearly a week since Portland has last played a game.

Let's hope these 5 days have given the Blazers time to work on their defense and work out the kinks in their offense.

With so many days off, energy will not be an issue, but rust might.

Whatever the case, the Blazers need to come out strong and win this game to salvage the homestand. For, if they lose this one, they will have a guarantee themselves a losing record on this 5-game homestand.

 

[kjironman1]

IDK?
A week off but Lillard was in the hospital and dealing with new twins most of it. Glad it happened when it did but i don't expect he spent much time in practice this last week? Kind of tough to practice without the players involved all being in practice.

Tough matchup for the Blazers. Both the starting unit and the bench mob. These are the kind of players that feast on the Blazers as of late. Way too much time off IMO.

Lets see what they can do?

Go Blazers!

 

[KingSpeed]

There are only 6 teams in the NBA with a better record than Portland right now. That number could become 4 tomorrow. For all the doom and gloom in this place.

 

[KingSpeed]

IDK?
A week off but Lillard was in the hospital and dealing with new twins most of it. Glad it happened when it did but i don't expect he spent much time in practice this last week? Kind of tough to practice without the players involved all being in practice.

Tough matchup for the Blazers. Both the starting unit and the bench mob. These are the kind of players that feast on the Blazers as of late. Way too much time off IMO.

Lets see what they can do?

Go Blazers!

She was in the hospital more than 1 night?

 

[Bruno_Sabino]

2 games that we can win. Let’s go Blazers!

 

[kjironman1]

She was in the hospital more than 1 night?

Do you have kids? Have you ever been through the process? Now how about twins? The article said she was admitted Thursday and Friday delivered. What do you think Tuesday and Wednesday were like? Now what do you think Saturday was like?
Learn "Child Birth" then post.
Just kidding... She might have had a great delivery and he might have practiced all week no problem. I would just expect Dame to put family first for a few days.

 

[BonesJones]

There are only 6 teams in the NBA with a better record than Portland right now. That number could become 4 tomorrow. For all the doom and gloom in this place.

Now if we hadn't had one of the easiest schedules in the league.

 

[kjironman1]

Blazers need a win tonight if they want to hold onto the 4th seed. Hope they come out ready and fired up.

 

[James lamphear]

What I be looking for tonight is at the defense let see after a week of practice if they solve some of there problems if not then there might need a change of a coach because it really showing me there not listening and what there doing in practice it's not translating to the game.

 

[Scalma]

I wanna see Simons do well. I wanna see Giles do well. I wanna see Nas slowly work his way into the rotation. I don’t wanna see Melo at center, nor do I wanna see him paired with Kanter.

 

[wizenheimer]

There are only 6 teams in the NBA with a better record than Portland right now..

that sure seems like a pretty random hook to hang your Blazer homer hat on

yes, there are only 6 teams with a better record; but there are 10 other teams either tied with Portland or within 1 game. And 7 of those teams are tied or within a half game. That's a cluster of 17 teams. Meanwhile, there are 17 teams with a better point differential; and there are 17 teams with a better net rating differential. Over 14 games, Portland has only played 4 teams with winning records, and only beat 1 of those teams. Portland's position at the top of the 11 also-rans appears more of a fluke of scheduling and lucky bounces than a function of playing better

maybe all of that just proves that at this stage there are only random hooks to hang homer hats on. Certainly, fans of teams like the Lakers, Clips, Jazz, Bucks, and 76ers have more reason to be happy. But random sure appears to be the controlling factor of this Covid season. Just about every team is taking turns blowing out 'better' teams one night, than getting blown out by 'worse' teams the next game. It's pretty much unpredictable from game to game for most of the teams in the league.

 

[B-Roy]

We are 4th in the west after not playing a week.

 

[SheedSoNasty]

Do you have kids? Have you ever been through the process? Now how about twins? The article said she was admitted Thursday and Friday delivered. What do you think Tuesday and Wednesday were like? Now what do you think Saturday was like?
Learn "Child Birth" then post.
Just kidding... She might have had a great delivery and he might have practiced all week no problem. I would just expect Dame to put family first for a few days.

My ex and I spent a week in the hospital with our first born and then probably a total of 18 hours in the hospital when she delivered our twins. I know you’re joking, just illustrating that the experience isn’t always what one would assume it to be.

 

[wizenheimer]

We are 4th in the west after not playing a week.

might be the best strategy. Blazers should try to not play their way to the finals

 

[Cugel]

Dame will be doubled like crazy tonight. How will Stotts counter the top defense in the league at present? Would be nice to see 35pt outing for someone other than Dame.

 

[Chris Craig]

The postponements will be good and bad for Portland. That is two less games they will have to play without CJ and perhaps Nurkic.

The Blazers have also been off for a week. Damian Lillard has been in the hospital for the birth of his children.(The last time he had a kid, his game suffered for awhile...being a new dad takes alot of energy)The Blazers havent been able to practice all together. Hopefully, the other players have been working on their game.

Good thing the Blazers are playing the Knicks and not the Clippers. But, that said the Knicks have been good this season and won't be a knockover.

 

[blazerkor]

The postponements will be good and bad for Portland. That is two less games they will have to play without CJ and perhaps Nurkic.

The Blazers have also been off for a week. Damian Lillard has been in the hospital for the birth of his children.(The last time he had a kid, his game suffered for awhile...being a new dad takes alot of energy)The Blazers havent been able to practice all together. Hopefully, the other players have been working on their game.

Good thing the Blazers are playing the Knicks and not the Clippers. But, that said the Knicks have been good this season and won't be a knockover.

Is there a link to a story saying that Dame has been taking time off?

 

[B-Roy]

Is there a link to a story saying that Dame has been taking time off?

I don’t think so. He’s been in all the practice photos posted by the Blazers. Maybe he’s not doing as much individual workouts, but he’s definitely still participating with the team.

 

[Chris Craig]

Is there a link to a story saying that Dame has been taking time off?

He has been in the hospital with his wife for the birth of his kids for the last several days anyway. Hopefully, he had some time to practice with the team before that.

 

[B-Roy]

The postponements will be good and bad for Portland. That is two less games they will have to play without CJ and perhaps Nurkic.

The Blazers have also been off for a week. Damian Lillard has been in the hospital for the birth of his children.(The last time he had a kid, his game suffered for awhile...being a new dad takes alot of energy)The Blazers havent been able to practice all together. Hopefully, the other players have been working on their game.

Good thing the Blazers are playing the Knicks and not the Clippers. But, that said the Knicks have been good this season and won't be a knockover.

Blazers have been practicing all week, as a team, with Dame. Just check their Instagram.

 

[blazerkor]

He has been in the hospital with his wife for the birth of his kids for the last several days anyway. Hopefully, he had some time to practice with the team before that.

Again, I've seen one picture of him in the hospital on the day of. So I will need a link to a story or tweet from him about him being in the hospital without practicing for several days, for me to believe that.

 

[Darkwebs]

Tonight's Refs

Tony Brothers (#25)
Gediminas Petraitis (#50)
Jason Goldenberg (#35)

 

[Darkwebs]

 

[B-Roy]

Tonight's Refs

Tony Brothers (#25)
Gediminas Petraitis (#50)
Jason Goldenberg (#35)

I just realized you actually link to the ref profiles. And apparently Petraitis favorite app is Peloton, despite him being an NBA ref that runs around for 3 hours every day. Apparently he’s just a cardio demon...

 

[B-Roy]

Also Tony Brothers was a programmer before becoming a ref. WTF

 

[Tince]

Now if we hadn't had one of the easiest schedules in the league.

What site do you think has the best SOS measurement? How did you determine ours is one of the easiest?

http://www.espn.com/nba/stats/rpi/_/sort/SOS

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other

http://powerrankingsguru.com/nba/strength-of-schedule.php

Of the first three that came up on a Google search, none of them have us in the top 10 of easiest schedules. Not saying your claim is wrong, just curious how you came to it.

 

[kjironman1]

My ex and I spent a week in the hospital with our first born and then probably a total of 18 hours in the hospital when she delivered our twins. I know you’re joking, just illustrating that the experience isn’t always what one would assume it to be.

True story though. The first child is always a tougher issue than the next.

 

[kjironman1]

Dame will be doubled like crazy tonight. How will Stotts counter the top defense in the league at present? Would be nice to see 35pt outing for someone other than Dame.

Melo to the rescue! It's his former team so he will go off for 40 tonight!

 

[kjironman1]

What site do you think has the best SOS measurement? How did you determine ours is one of the easiest?

http://www.espn.com/nba/stats/rpi/_/sort/SOS

https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/ranking/schedule-strength-by-other

http://powerrankingsguru.com/nba/strength-of-schedule.php

Of the first three that came up on a Google search, non of them have us with even a top 10 easiest schedules. Not saying your claim is wrong, just curious how you came to it.

I was going to ask that question also. They have been in the middle all year except the first 5 games which had them in the hardest. But then i really dislike SOS because it can change so very quickly and it doesn't take into account of injuries or players being held out. Right now playing the Blazers is playing a team .571 winning percentage but they are missing three starters. Strength of schedule is a terrible stat. Also at the end of the year every team in the conference should have the same SOS but it doesn't work that way at all.