Game Thread Game #34 - BLAZERS VS MAVERICKS - DECEMBER 27, 2021 - MONDAY - 7:00 PM (PDT) ROOT SPORTS

[Chris Craig]

______________________________________

STARTERS


Damian Lillard Norman Powell

Tony Snell Nassir Little

Larry Nance Jr


Frank Ntilikina Jalen Brunson

Dorian Kristaps
Finney Smith Porzingis

Dwight Powell



_________________________________________

WHEN: DECEMBER 27, 2021 - MONDAY - 7:00 PM (PDT)
WHERE: MODA CENTER, PORTLAND OR



TV BROADCAST



RADIO BROADCAST



____________________________

BENCH


Robert Covington CJ McCollum

Cody Zeller Anfernee Simons

Tony Snell Ben McLemore

Dennis Smith Jr CJ Elleby

Greg Brown Trendon Watford

Jusuf Nurkic Keljin Blevins

Cameron McGriff Brandon Williams

Jarron Cumberland Reggie Perry


MAVERICKS



Luka Doncic Maxi Kleber

Sterling Brown Trey Burke

Moses Brown Reggie Bullock

Willie Cauley- Stein Josh Green

Tim Hardaway Jr Boban Marjonovic

JaQuori McLaughlin Theo Pinson

Charlie Brown Jr Marquese Chriss

Carlik Jones George King

Brandon Knight

_________________________________________

INJURIES
​

MAVERICKS

Luka Doncic (Covid) OUT

Kristaps Porzingis (Toe) QUESTIONABLE

Tim Hardaway Jr (Covid Protocols) OUT

Maxi Kleber (Covid Protocols) OUT

Josh Green (Covid Protocols) OUT

Reggie Bullock (Covid) OUT

Willie Cauley-Stein (Personal) OUT

JaQuori McLaughlin (Covid) OUT




BLAZERS

CJ McCollum (Lung, Covid) OUT

Cody Zeller (Knee, Covid) OUT

Jusuf Nurkic (Covid) OUT

Damian Lillard (Personal) Questionable

Robert Covington (Covid) OUT

Trendon Watford ( Covid ) OUT

Dennis Smith Jr ( Covid ) OUT

Ben McLemore (Covid) OUT

Keljin Blevins (Covid) OUT

Chauncey Billups (Covid) OUT



_____________________________________

COACHES


Chauncey Billups


Jason Kidd

_____________________________________

NOTES
​

• This is the first of three meetings this season between the Trail Blazers and Mavericks
• The two teams will meet again January 26th in Portland and April 8th in Dallas
• The Trail Blazers won the 2020-21 season series 2-1
• Dennis Smith Jr was drafted by the Mavericks with the 9th pick in the 2017 draft and played for Dallas between 2017-19
• Moses Brown went undrafted in 2019 and started his NBA career as a two way player for Portland

__________________________________

TRIVIA

The Trail Blazers beat the Mavericks 125 -119 in Portland back on March 19th. He had the highest +/- off the bench with a +13.

__________________________________


​

 

[Chris Craig]

Bump

 

[Freshtown]

I’m guessing it’ll be:

Lillard
Norm
Little
Covington
Nance

as the starters. Man, that’s small.

 

[Scalma]

I’m guessing it’ll be:

Lillard
Norm
Little
Covington
Nance

as the starters. Man, that’s small.

Roco is out too

Brown is gonna get his chance to play.

 

[Strenuus]

Roco is out too

Brown is gonna get his chance to play.

Ah. So FINALLY we will be able to ask the age old question: What can Brown do for us?

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I see that Dallas just released Omoruyi. He's not very tall but weighs 235 and plays tough. And maybe he would have some incentive to play strong against the team that released him.

 

[Scalma]

My guess is we’re gonna see a bunch of three guard lineups with dame, Powell, Simons getting heavy minutes. Nas, snell, nance, and brown split the minutes at the 4/5. Hopefully we see some mcgriff tho. We really could use a more traditional center right now. I like brown, but he’s gonna get worked in the post lol.

 

[illmatic99]

Between covid and the weather, how likely is it for them to postpone this game?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

OK, trying to get my head around this:

If we've lost
CJ
Cody Zeller
RoCo
Ben McLemore
Nurk
Dennis smith
Keljin Blevins (rolls eyes)
Trendon Watford

and added
McGriff Crime Dog
Jarron Cumberland
Let's Go Brandon Williams
Reggie Perry

then our available roster is:

Dame
Norm
Ant
Nance
Nassir
CJ Elleby
Greg Brown lll
Tony Snell
McGriff Crime Dog
Jarron Cumberland
Let's Go Brandon Williams
Reggie Perry

Did I miss anyone? (edited to add Reggie Perry)

 

[Scalma]

OK, trying to get my head around this:

If we've lost
CJ
Cody Zeller
RoCo
Ben McLemore
Nurk
Dennis smith
Keljin Blevins (rolls eyes)
Trendon Watford

and added
McGriff Crime Dog
Jarron Cumberland
Let's Go Brandon Williams

then our available roster is:

Dame
Norm
Ant
Nance
Nassir
CJ Elleby
Greg Brown lll
Tony Snell
McGriff Crime Dog
Jarron Cumberland
Let's Go Brandon Williams

Did I miss anyone?

I don’t think so. Wonder how Billups plays the rotation. Can’t see a playoff type shortening as you don’t wanna wear guys down, so I expect the majority of the available players to play. Expecting a lot of zone D

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

I don’t think so. Wonder how Billups plays the rotation. Can’t see a playoff type shortening as you don’t wanna wear guys down, so I expect the majority of the available players to play. Expecting a lot of zone D

I really wish they'd just sit Lillard. It would be classic Blazer luck if Dame got seriously injured playing in a meaningless game during a increasingly meaningless season with a bunch of G league scrubs.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I see that Dallas just released Omoruyi. He's not very tall but weighs 235 and plays tough. And maybe he would have some incentive to play strong against the team that released him.

Ooops, i see the reason they released him is because he had a season ending injury.

 

[BigGameDamian]

 

[BlazerBeav]

I was debating attending - but if they let me take Chauncey's spot, I'm in!

 

[Orion Bailey]

i predicted a postponement tweet by 2pm.

 

[e_blazer]

Seems like this game is a real, live version of the old Abbott and Costello script:

"Now, on the Blazers' team we have Who's at C, What's at PF, and I Don't Know is at SF."

And don't even get me started on the bench. I Don't Give an F 1 through 5.

 

[Chris Craig]

Updated starters and bench with protocols and new signings

 

[Chris Craig]

At least the Mavs are missing a lot of players too

 

[Chris Craig]

Not a surprise, but Scott Brooks will coach the Blazers tonight

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

Not a surprise, but Scott Brooks will coach the Blazers tonight

Damn. I thought this was our chance to put SPD down there on the sidelines with his cell phone, making decisions after consulting the game thread. Another bad decision from ownership....

 

[BigGameDamian]

Not a surprise, but Scott Brooks will coach the Blazers tonight

Good! He’s probably the better coach anyway.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Casey didn’t mention that Nurk is out. Where are people getting that news?

 

[Orion Bailey]

https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/...-to-enter-nbas-covid-19-protocols-report.html

Covid has hit the Blazers, and it keeps spreading.

Casey didn’t mention that Nurk is out. Where are people getting that news?

http://www.sportstwo.com/threads/nurkic-and-zeller-now-out.372026/


You know…if you didn't have so many people on ignore….

 

[tlongII]

I deserve better!

 

[DDolla]

Can’t wait to see Blevins play tonight

 

[Scalma]

SuSpEnD tHe SeAsOn



hopefully means we get some guys back this week.

 

[illmatic99]

as happened in march 2020, the league is at the forefront of leading/driving the science with regards to covid.

 

[BBert]

Not a surprise, but Scott Brooks will coach the Blazers tonight

It's a good thing Chauncey "Wally Pipp" Billups has a capable backup.

 

[Fairly-Hard]

COVID is absolutely running rampant. I’ve been in bed for two days sick. Just took a Covid test we’ll see how this goes?