Game Thread GAME# 34: HAWKS @ BLAZERS - JANUARY 3, 2015 - SATURDAY, 7:00 PM (PST), CSN (2 Viewers)

[Darkwebs]

S T A R T E R S

VS

WHEN: 7:00 PM, SATURDAY, 1/3/2015​

WHERE: Moda Center, Portland, OR

TV BROADCAST:

RADIO BROADCAST:

​

 

[Darkwebs]

BENCH

ATLANTA HAWKS

SCHRODER , MACK , BAZEMORE , SEFOLOSHA

SCOTT , BRAND , ANTIC , MUSCALA

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

BLAKE , MCCOLLUM , CRABBE , BARTON

WRIGHT , CLAVER , ROBINSON , KAMAN




INJURIES

HAWKS
Al Horford (illness): PROBABLE

TRAIL BLAZERS
Meyers Leonard (Shoulder): QUESTIONABLE
Robin Lopez (Fractured Right Index Finger): OUT






HEAD COACHES

- VS –

MIKE BUDENHOLZER--- TERRY STOTTS




OFFICIAL BLAZERS' GAME NOTES ​

• Saturday marks the first of two matchups between the Trail Blazers and Hawks in 2014-15.

• Portland has won three consecutive games against the Hawks.

• The Trail Blazers swept the season series from Atlanta in 2013-14 for the first time since 2007-08.

• In two games last season, Portland outscored Atlanta by an average of 19.5 points.

• Portland’s Damian Lillard is tied with Atlanta’s Kyle Korver for second in the NBA with 91 3-point field goals, while Wesley Matthews leads the league with 101 3-pointers.

• Both the Trail Blazers and Hawks rank in the top-6 in points allowed. Portland is ranked third at 96.5 points allowed/game, while Atlanta is sixth in the league at 97.4 points allowed.

• Atlanta is ranked second in the NBA in assists per game (25.5), despite the fact that no team has had more 20+ assist games than Portland (29 times). The Trail Blazers are eighth in the league with 23.0 assists/game.

• In Portland’s 100-85 victory over Atlanta on Mar. 27 of last season, LaMarcus Aldridge recorded game-highs in both points (25)and rebounds (16) in 32 minutes.

• LaMarcus Aldridge has notched four double-doubles in his past six games against the Hawks.

• LaMarcus Aldridge dished out a career-high eight assists against the Hawks on 11/12/12 and Meyers Leonard recorded a career-high four assists against Atlanta on 3/5/14.

• Terry Stotts earned a 52-85 record as the Head Coach for the Atlanta Hawks from 2002-04. Since joining the Trail Blazers in 2012-13, Stotts is 3-1 against his former team.

• HEAD-TO-HEAD HISTORY:
ALL TIME: Trail Blazers lead, 53-51
IN PORTLAND: Trail Blazers lead, 34-18
AT THE HAWKS: Hawks lead, 33-19

GO BLAZERS!!!​

 

[Darkwebs]

Blazers v. ATL Game Preview (1/3/15):

Our Last game: W v. TOR, 12/30/14

Portland's All-Star forward, who had missed three of the previous four games because of a respiratory illness, had 23 points and 13 rebounds in the 102-97 victory over Toronto on Tuesday night.
"I was kind of feeling it out in the first half because they hadn't played with me in two or three games," Aldridge said about his teammates. "In the second half, I was trying to be more aggressive going to the basket, just trying to find my shot."
The Blazers, the first team in the NBA to 26 wins, have won four straight and nine of their past 10.
Aldridge kidded that he still had energy at the end because he'd been able to sit out of a few games, but coach Terry Stotts admired Aldridge's will after he was pressed into additional minutes because of the close game.
"Coming back from an illness that sapped him of a lot of energy, he showed a lot of moxie," Stotts said.
Damian Lillard added 26 points and nine assists, while Wesley Matthews finished with 19 points, including five 3-pointers.
The Blazers rallied in the fourth quarter after trailing by 13 points, but Amir Johnson's short jumper for the Raptors tied the game 87-all and sent it to overtime.
Portland took a 96-90 lead in the extra period on consecutive 3-pointers from Lillard, Matthews and Nicolas Batum. Kyle Lowry's layup got the Raptors within 96-94, but Greivis Vasquez was called for a clear-path foul on Batum, who made one of a pair of free throws to keep Portland in front 97-94.
Lillard made a pair of free throws with 19.4 second left, and the Raptors couldn't catch up.
"We just had to stay the course, we knew they were one of the better teams in the league this season, top of the Eastern Conference and they've played well against Western Conference teams," Lillard said. "We knew it was going to be a fight coming in."
Before the game, the Blazers put center Meyers Leonard on the inactive list with a left shoulder strain. ... Portland had won the previous 10 of 11 against the Raptors.

Their Last game: W @ UTH, 98-92

Teague scored 25 points, and the surging Hawks held Utah to 37 percent shooting in a 98-92 victory on Friday night.
Atlanta is one of two NBA teams which rank in the top 10 in field-goal percentage, 3-point shooting percentage and free throw percentage. But its defense played a key role in the road win against the Jazz.
"We just acted defensively," Teague said. "Getting deflections. Getting steals. It led to some easy offensive points for us."
The Hawks (24-8) have won three straight and 19 of 22. Coupled with Toronto's 126-105 loss at Golden State, Atlanta moved into the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Paul Millsap had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Al Horford scored 13 points in Atlanta's sixth consecutive win over a Western Conference opponent.
"Our focus was to just finish the game out," Horford said. "We had been playing so well all game, so we just wanted to come out of here with a win."
Atlanta used its stout defense to get off to a fast start. Utah did not make a basket for nearly 6 1/2 minutes in the first quarter, and the Hawks opened a 28-9 lead on Millsap's 3-pointer with 3:41 remaining in the period.
Atlanta made 22 consecutive free throws and was 26 for 30 from the line for the game. ... Korver reached 1,600 career 3-pointers late in the second quarter. He ranks 15th in NBA history in that category and also ranks eighth all-time in 3-point shooting percentage (.429).
Atlanta is building a reputation for being one of the league's most unselfish teams. The Hawks entered the game ranked third in the NBA in assists with 25.6 per game. Atlanta had 24 assists on 33 baskets against the Jazz.

Changes to their roster

Before he was placed on indefinite leave, Hawks GM Danny Ferry did an excellent job clearing the Hawks’ clogged cap sheet and picking up assets in the process. The two plus years of his tenure have seen Joe Johnson traded to Brooklyn in 2012 while Josh Smith was allowed to leave for a massive contract in Detroit in 2013. Through it all, along with two season-ending injuries to Al Horford, the Hawks have managed to stay nearly as competitive as they were before those departures while maintaining significant flexibility. Additions like Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver have helped the Hawks stay in the East playoff picture.
That is the good, but the Hawks’ draft record is the bad. The team has not drafted a significant contributor since Jeff Teague in 2009, and the early returns on 23 year-old Adreian Payne were not great in summer league. Ferry also made a mystifying trade this summer, dumping the one year remaining on Lou Williams’ contract along with 2013 number 16 overall pick Lucas “Bebe” Nogueira to Toronto in exchange for a 2015 second-rounder and the almost entirely unguaranteed contract of John Salmons, who was waived. Dumping a mid first-rounder who had never played a game for the team along with Williams (who might have improved in his second season after a torn ACL) to clear $4.45 million in cap space was mystifying. Insult was added to injury when the Hawks’ key offseason additions were Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore.
The ugly is the fact that the Hawks have had significant trouble improving via free agency since no stars seem to want to play there. And that was before the recent turmoil of racially charged comments by soon-to-sell owner Bruce Levenson and Ferry. With an inability to add major free agents and a poor draft record, the plan for taking the next step and becoming a contender is murky indeed for the Hawks.

Injury Updates: POR: Lopez (out), Leonard (day-to-day) ATL: Horford (day-to-day), Carroll (day-to-day)

Matchups:
Lillard v. Teague (17.2ppg, 7.0apg, 2.7rpg)
Matthews v. Korver (12.8ppg, 4.3rpg, 3.0apg, 51.7% 3pt, 94% FT)
Batum v. Carroll (11.4ppg, 5.8 rpg)
Aldridge v. Millsap (16.7ppg, 8.2 rpg, 3.3apg)
Freeland v. Horford (14.6ppg, 6.4rpg, 2.7apg)

Current Power Rankings:
NBA.com: (4) Pace: 96.0 (14), OffRtg: 105.3 (12), DefRtg: 100.8 (7), NetRtg: +4.5 (9)
The Hawks' magical, 14-1, Thanksgiving-to-Christmas run came to an end once their Elves on the Shelf went back to the North Pole. They actually shot worse in Saturday's win in Milwaukee than they did in Friday's loss at home (to the same team), but grabbed a season-high 17 offensive boards. They rank last in offensive rebounding percentage.

ESPN: (4) Only one game left in a 13-2 December that has triggered the best 30-game start in Hawks history since a 23-7 launch in 1993-94. (That's the season Atlanta, just 10 days into a certain someone's L.A. Daily News beat-writing career, dealt the iconic Dominique Wilkins to the Clips for Danny Manning.)

Covers.com: (7) The reason for the Clips and Grizz moving up despite rating dips is that the Hawks take an even bigger hit as a 30-point home loss to Milwaukee hurts them.
Links to other team’s site(s): www.nba.com/hawks , www.peachtreehoops.com,
Previews from other sources: http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2015/1/3/7486223/atlanta-hawks-vs-portland-trail-blazers-game-thread

Link to GrandpaBlaze's Prediction Game

Final Thoughts: Teague, Millsap, Carroll all average almost 2 steals per game and the team is 8th in the league. Korver is beyond deadly from 3, but this year’s vintage of the Blazers is doing well against the 3. Millsap and Horford can score inside and out (Millsap, especially, shooting 34% from 3 while shooting double the amount of 3’s than mid-range jumpers, while Horford is a better mid-range shooter [46% to 39% on 10-23’ jumpers] than LMA). But I think with a couple of days off, and a bit of practice time, you’ll see improved defense, a couple of new plays available (maybe a rolling-to-the-lane backdoor alley-oop?) and too much POR offense for ATL. Another notch in the E-League belt.

POR 113
ATL 100

 

[Jade Falcon]

Let's go Blazers! Can't wait to go to Big Als and watch this tonight. Gonna be a great game!

 

[Eastoff]

Me and my little family will be there tonight! Section 111!

 

[riverman]

I expect this to be a tough tough win

 

[magnifier661]

All you guys with Facebook or Twitter followers should be advertising the shit out of this site. Advertising is pretty simple really.. Look below and recommend this site on Twitter and Facebook. This thread has a recommendation tab at the very bottom

 

[MickZagger]

All you guys with Facebook or Twitter followers should be advertising the shit out of this site. Advertising is pretty simple really.. Look below and recommend this site on Twitter and Facebook. This thread has a recommendation tab at the very bottom

We got enough posters in this joint. Its just right. I don't want to get off work and try and play catch up on 2 pages worth of stuff.

'Are the Pelicans for real'

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

Ughhhh why today for a big game? There is so much shit sports wise going on. NFL playoffs and UFC... I may sit this one out to watch the fight :/

 

[PDXFonz]

Mags wants to compete with clutchfans for who has the most immature and moronic posters. The only way to do that is to get some immature and moronic posters.

 

[BlazerBeav]

They played at elevation in SLC last night, here's hoping we run right over them!

 

[THE HCP]

Hope that back to back sets in about mid 3rd quarter!

 

[Strenuus]

Ughhhh why today for a big game? There is so much shit sports wise going on. NFL playoffs and UFC... I may sit this one out to watch the fight :/

Fix your priroities!!! haha

 

[BlazerCaravan]

UFC is for cavemen.

 

[magnifier661]

Mags wants to compete with clutchfans for who has the most immature and moronic posters. The only way to do that is to get some immature and moronic posters.

No I want this forum to have traffic. The more traffic, the more incentive the Blazers will give to the forum.

It's a business type move, but if you guys just want this some secret society, then be my guest.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

UFC is for cavemen.

If you saw me, you'd think... Caveman

 

[Blazersfan161]

Go blazers

 

[OneLifeToLive]

Wow. This game thread looks fantastic.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

Blazers are getting a chance to chill, get lot some rest and some time off right now. It would neat to see them sweep their home stretch. And go back on the road semi rested.

 

[THE HCP]

If you saw me, you'd think... Caveman

I've seen your wife and CAVEMAN is what came to mind.

 

[BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94]

I've seen your wife and CAVEMAN is what came to mind.

Lol wife?

 

[rasheedfan2005]

Gotta go to bed for work early after spending a week in bed with the flu. Win it for me fellas.

 

[riverman]

Darkwebs, you do such a good job laying out these gamethreads but I've gotta ask, what's up with the Hawks logo invading the pinwheels territory and being actually on top of it?

 

[Boise Blazer]

 

[magnifier661]

Darkwebs, you do such a good job laying out these gamethreads but I've gotta ask, what's up with the Hawks logo invading the pinwheels territory and being actually on top of it?

I used to be a graphic artist, so I suspect the pinewheel logo is a JPEG that doesn't have a transparent background, while the Hawks logo is a gif without a background.

 

[BrianFromWA]

Preview updated in Post 2.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Alright, first big test of the new forum software! Lets see if we can crash this biatch!

 

[BrianFromWA]

the NSFW OT Chatroom (aka Brainiac's Room) is set up, right?

 

[SlyPokerDog]

the NSFW OT Chatroom (aka Brainiac's Room) is set up, right?

We did but the NSA flagged it.

 

[PDXFonz]

Portland is a hell of a team. Should be a good game. Make no mistake, if we win this one it will be the most impressive win of the season, IMO.

Portland is one of the fews teams out West I've watched a few times this year. I agree with @The Fuzz - this will be an incredibly impressive win if we can pull it out. Lillard is a beast. We are going to have our hands full tonight.

Hawks fans have got respect.