Game Thread GAME# 44: CELTICS @ BLAZERS - JANUARY 22, 2015 - THURSDAY, 7:00 PM (PST), KGW (1 Viewer)

[Darkwebs]

PROBABLE STARTERS

PG

AVERY BRADLEY VS DAMIAN LILLARD

SG

EVAN TURNER VS WESLEY MATTHEWS

SF

JAE CROWDER VS NICOLAS BATUM

PF

JARED SULLINGER VS DORELL WRIGHT

C

TYLER ZELLER VS CHRIS KAMAN







WHEN: 7:00 PM, THURSDAY, 1/22/2015​

WHERE: Moda Center, Portland, OR

TV BROADCAST:

RADIO BROADCAST:

​

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BENCH

BOSTON CELTICS

PRESSEY , SMART , THORNTON , PRINCE

WALLACE , BASS , RANDOLPH , OLYNYK


PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

BLAKE , MCCOLLUM , BARTON , CRABBE

CLAVER , ROBINSON , LEONARD



INJURIES
CELTICS
▪ James Young (illness): OUT
TRAIL BLAZERS
▪ LaMarcus Aldridge (left thumb injury): OUT
▪ Joel Freeland (right shoulder strain): OUT
▪ Robin Lopez (fractured right index finger): OUT



HEAD COACHES

- VS –

BRAD STEVENS --- TERRY STOTTS




OFFICIAL BLAZERS' GAME NOTES ​

• Thursday marks the second and final matchup between the Trail Blazers and Celtics in 2014-15.

• The Trail Blazers defeated the Celtics 94-88 on Nov. 23, marking the fourth consecutive time that Portland has defeated Boston.

• Portland hasn’t won five consecutive games against Boston since 1993-94 through 1995-96. The Trail Blazers are just two wins shy of tying their longest winning streak against the Celtics in franchise history (1976-77 - 1977-78).

• In the first meeting between these two teams, LaMarcus Aldridge recorded game highs in both points (20) and rebounds (14) for his third straight double-double against the Celtics.

• Chris Kaman scored a season-high scored a season-high 16 points off the bench against the Celtics back on Nov. 23.

• Trailing 49-44 at halftime of that Nov. 23 game, Portland outscored Boston by 11 points in the second half to secure the six-point victory.

• The Trail Blazers out rebounded Boston, 55-46, in the first contest this season.

• HEAD-TO-HEAD HISTORY:
ALL TIME: Celtics lead, 62-43
IN PORTLAND: Celtics lead, 27-25
AT THE CELTICS: Celtics lead, 35-18

OFFICIAL CELTICS' GAME NOTES




GO BLAZERS!!!​

 

[Darkwebs]

Game 44: POR v. BOS (13-26, 4-13 away), 1/22/2015

BOS: 3rd in Titanic Division, 3.5 games out of 8th place

Our Last Game: L @ PHX, 118-113, 1/21/15

Portland got 22 points each for Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews and 10 rebounds from Batum.
The Suns (26-18) have their longest home win streak of the season and longest since eight straight during the 2009-2010 season.
The Blazers had a chance to go ahead again with 20 second left, but Lillard missed a baseline jumper and fouled the Suns' P.J. Tucker.
A missed free throw by Batum also cost the Blazers a chance to tie the game at 114. Portland's last chance to tie was lost when Lillard stepped out of bounds trying to catch a high inbounds pass with 9.8 seconds left.
"I don't think we should be satisfied with a moral victory," Lillard said. "We didn't deserve to win the game because of how it went. You want to win, you expect to win but not enough things went right."
The Blazers, missing star forward LaMarcus Aldridge because of a left hand injury and two big men in Robin Lopez and Joel Freeland, overcame their worst defensive first quarter of the season and outscored Phoenix 80-60 from the 5:10 mark of the second quarter. But they came up short.
The Suns outscored the Blazers 27-2 over nine minutes between the first and second quarters.

Their Last Game: L @ LAC, 102-93, 1/19/15

The Clippers blew most of a 23-point lead and they got away with it against the struggling Boston Celtics.
Blake Griffin scored 22 points and DeAndre Jordan had 19 points and 12 rebounds in a 102-93 victory Monday.
Boston's bench provided most of its offense, with Brandon Bass scoring a team-leading 17 points, Marcus Thornton adding 15 and Marcus Smart 14. Jared Sullinger (14) and Evan Turner (10) were the only starters in double figures.
Tayshaun Prince scored the Celtics' last basket while playing 20 minutes in his debut after being traded from Memphis last week.
"I didn't expect to play him nearly that much, but I felt pretty comfortable with him on the floor because he's really savvy and always in the right place, especially defensively," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "A couple of times he looked at me like, 'Where am I supposed to go?' because on offense I called a play."
Thornton's 3-pointer drew the Celtics to 91-88 with under four minutes to play. It was Boston's fifth 3 of the quarter. The Clippers kept Boston at bay from the free throw line, making 6 of 10 to end the game. Griffin hit all four of his attempts, while Jordan was just 1 of 4.
"It helps get my scoring average up, if I'm making them," Jordan said about opponents deliberately fouling him. "I obviously want to make them but if we go down and get a stop, the score is still the same."
Boston reduced its 23-point deficit to eight on Smart's second 3-pointer of the fourth. He and Kelly Olynyk combined to score the Celtics' first 13 points of the quarter against the Clippers' reserves.
"We started getting some stops and some rebounds, got out in transition in the second half and got on a little run," Olynyk said. "But we dug ourselves too deep a hole at the start."

Previous season meetings: W @ BOS, 94-88, 11/23/14

Portland won its fourth straight in the series in a 94-88 victory at Boston on Nov. 23, holding the Celtics to 38.9 percent shooting. The Trail Blazers haven't won five straight meetings since Feb. 20, 1994-Jan. 3, 1996.

Injuries: POR--Aldridge (out), Lopez (out), Freeland (out), Crabbe (day-to-day)
BOS -- None

Matchups:
Lillard v. Bradley (12.8ppg. 2.6rpg, 1.4apg)
Matthews v. Turner (8.9ppg, 4.9rpg, 4.2apg)
Batum v. Crowder (7.3ppg, 2.8rpg, 1.1apg)
Wright v. Sullinger (13.9ppg, 8.1rpg, 2.2apg)
Kaman v. Zeller (9.2ppg, 5.2rpg)

Power Rankings:
NBA.com (25) Pace: 99.3 (2) OffRtg: 101.4 (21) DefRtg: 103.8 (17) NetRtg: -2.4 (20)
The Celtics still have more dealing to do, because every time they trade a guy that a contender can use, they get another one in return. They're still just a game in the loss column out of eighth place in the East, but that's partly because they've played the fewest games in the conference. Now they've reached the part of the schedule that should bury them.
ESPN (28) Hard to believe that the Celts' next road win over a Western Conference foe will be their first in the Brad Stevens Era. Monday's MLK Day matinee against Doc Rivers, Austin Rivers and the rest of the Clips launches a six-game West swing that will require Boston to trek more than 8,000 miles.
Washington Post (19) Brandan Wright appears to be the odd man out in Boston after being traded there in the Rajon Rondo deal. He is being used in just 14 percent of the team’s possessions, second lowest on the squad to Gerald Wallace (6.5 percent).

Link to GrandpaBlaze's Prediction Game
Link to MediocreMan's Over/Under Game

Final Thoughts: Back-to-back against a team that's had 2 days off to prepare. They're down and not gelled after their trades of Rondo and Green to WC contenders. But they're resilient and almost always play hard. I expect that Damian gets off the schneid (6-22, 2-10 from 3 last game) and the Blazers pull away comfortably.

POR 111
BOS 97

 

[THE HCP]

Just landed back in the PDX...........


Sent from my Baller-Ass 5.5" iPhone 6+......... FAMS

 

[Aussie Blazer!]

Dear Stotts, could you please unleash the Crabbe or Claver this game?

 

[Aussie Blazer!]

And is it just me or is Kaman getting a bit turnover prone at the moment?

 

[Boise Blazer]

Just landed back in the PDX...........


Sent from my Baller-Ass 5.5" iPhone 6+......... FAMS

Im just going pretend that you didnt violate your contract with that insider information.

 

[illmatic99]

Agree on Claver. He shoulda played yesterday, he woulda been more effective on D than Wright or Barton.

 

[BBert]

And is it just me or is Kaman getting a bit turnover prone at the moment?

He's always turnover prone. It's just more evident (and likely) because he's starting.

 

[BBert]

Just landed back in the PDX...........


Sent from my Baller-Ass 5.5" iPhone 6+......... FAMS

Hide the women and children. And pets.

 

[BBert]

Time for Dame to break out of his Batumesque slump.

 

[BlazerBeav]

Amazing how even without 2 of our 5 starters (including our MVP), I look at that lineup comparison and think what a collection of trash Boston is fielding.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Amazing how even without 2 of our 5 starters (including our MVP), I look at that lineup comparison and think what a collection of trash Boston is fielding.

Not sure that it makes a difference but I will say they are trying to be trash on purpose.

 

[illmatic99]

They got a shitload of picks though. Ainge is a dumbass, but he's rebuilding past their Pierce/KG/Ray era pretty well. They should be able consolidate those assets into star talent pretty easily over the next few years.

Poor Billy King....

 

[BrianFromWA]

Preview updated in Post 2.

 

[BBert]

No mention of Batum's 6-8 from three and team high 27 points against the Suns?

Geez, you could throw the poor sap a bone.

 

[riverman]

Should be able to win this game.

 

[magnifier661]

Doesn't Olynyk look like that dude from Clerks?!

 

[BlazerCaravan]

Doesn't Olynyk look like that dude from Clerks?!

Snoochie boochies!

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Doesn't Olynyk look like that dude from Clerks?!

 

[magnifier661]

Omg yes!!!! Lmao

 

[KeepOnRollin]

I think Stotts is messing with Darkwebs on purpose! A different starting PF again tonight.

 

[blue9]

Gotta say it - it's really nice to see a big guy ROLL!

 

[magnifier661]

T rob!!!!

 

[KeepOnRollin]

This is a good opportunity for all the backup bigs but especially for TRob.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Bass with two LMA-like jumpers (both went in).

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Why are they showing the Brooklyn Nets and Clippers warmups on my feed during timeouts?

 

[magnifier661]

Looks like t rob came to play!!!

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Shit they must have switched my online stream feed.

 

[Boise Blazer]

Defense is now more important than ever

 

[blue32]

Looking good so far