Game Thread GAME# 78: TIMBERWOLVES @ BLAZERS - APRIL 8, 2015 - WEDNESDAY, 7:00 PM (PST), CSNNW (1 Viewer)

[Darkwebs]

2014-15 Regular Season Records
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
16-61 (7-31 Road)
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
50-27 (31-8 Home)


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

PG

ZACH LaVINE VS DAMIAN LILLARD

SG

KEVIN MARTIN VS ARRON AFFLALO

SF

ANDREW WIGGINS VS NICOLAS BATUM

PF

ADREIAN PAYNE VS LaMARCUS ALDRIDGE

C

JUSTIN HAMILTON VS ROBIN LOPEZ






WHEN: 7:00 PM (PST), WEDNESDAY, 4/8/2015​

WHERE: Moda Center, Portland, OR

TV BROADCAST:

RADIO BROADCAST:

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--------------BENCH--------------

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

BROWN, BUDINGER

HUMMEL , ONUAKU

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

BLAKE , FRAZIER , McCOLLUM , CRABBE

GEE , FREELAND , LEONARD , KAMAN



INJURIES
TIMBERWOLVES
Kevin Garnett (knee): QUESTIONABLE
Gary Neal (sprained left ankle): DOUBTFUL
Gorgui Dieng (concussion): OUT
Anthony Bennett (sprained right ankle): OUT
Nikola Pekovic (sore right Achilles/ankle): OUT
Ricky Rubio (sore left ankle): OUT
Shabazz Muhammad (ruptured ligament of left middle finger): OUT
TRAIL BLAZERS
Dorell Wright (fractured left hand): OUT
Wesley Matthews (ruptured left Achilles’ tendon): OUT



HEAD COACHES

- VS –

FLIP SAUNDERS --- TERRY STOTTS




OFFICIAL BLAZERS GAME NOTES ​

• Wednesday marks the fourth and final regular season game between the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves in 2014-15.

• The Trail Blazers have won six consecutive home games against Minnesota dating back to April 1, 2012.

• Minnesota currently owns the 2-1 series lead, having won both of its home games against Portland (90-82 on 12/10 and 121-113 on 3/7). The Trail Blazers claimed the first matchup of the season with a 107-93 victory on Nov. 30 in Portland.

• The Timberwolves haven’t won three games against Portland in a single season since 2004-05, when they had a four-game season sweep of the Trail Blazers.

• Portland has won 25 of its past 30 regular season games against Minnesota dating back to the start of the 2007-08 season. The Trail Blazers won a franchise-best 16 consecutive games against the Tmberwolves from 2007-08 to 2010-11.

• The Trail Blazers are 10-3 against Northwest Division opponents, with two of those losses coming to Minnesota. The Timberwolves own a 4-10 record against the Northwest Division, with their only two home wins both coming against Portland.

• Portland is the second best rebounding team in the NBA at 46.0 rebounds per game, while Minnesota is ranked 27th in the league with 41.0 boards per game. The Timberwolves hold a + 17 rebound advantage against Portland this season (three games).

• In the most recent outing between these two teams on Mar. 7, Damian Lillard scored 32 points on 11-of-23 shooting (4-8 3-PT). Lillard has scored 24.0 points on 26-of-61 shooting (42.6%) in three games against Minnesota this season.

• Nicolas Batum finished with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting (3-5 3-PT) and added seven rebounds against Minnesota on March 7. Batum has shot at least 50.0% in four of his last six outings against the Timberwolves.

• Arron Afflalo scored a season-high 34 points on 11-of-18 shooting (4-6 3-PT, 8-8 FT) against the Timberwolves on Jan. 5, 2015 as a member of the Denver Nuggets.

• Arron Afflalo has connected on 10 of his 19 three-point attempts in his last three games against Minnesota.

• LAST SEASON: The Trail Blazers won three of their four games against the Timberwolves in 2013-14.

• HEAD-TO-HEAD HISTORY:
LL TIME: Trail Blazers lead, 72-29
IN PORTLAND: Trail Blazers lead, 40-11
AT THE TIMBERWOLVES: Trail Blazers lead, 32-18

OFFICIAL TIMBERWOLVES GAME NOTES




GO BLAZERS!!!​

 

[BBert]

Revenge time. Let's rub the Pups' noses in it!

 

[Strenuus]

I really hate facing the timberwolves this year.

They have 7 players out, too. lol. They are going to win.

 

[stampedehero]

Revenge. LA, Kman and Bat rested with the Wolves sporting a four player bench equals a Blow out.

 

[SheedSoNasty]

We lose this and I quit.

 

[magnifier661]

We need to win out from this point forward. If that happens, I think we can get HCA in the first round.

 

[kjironman1]

Blazers vs Timberwolves pregame

Will you look at the injury list for the T-Wolves? 7 players out or doubtful. Sure, the Blazers have had some head scratchers against this team but you can look at the schedule and see some of the reasons. I don't really expect much of a fight out of them tonight. They are also looking to get that elusive "Draft Pick" that will turn the tables for the team. Flip is smart and wants more to work with.

This is of course the first game of the last B2B set of games for the Blazers. I understand Lillard wanting to keep his streak of starts alive. It is very impressive. But is there a reason to play him more than a 10-15 mins tonight? As far as i am concerned is there a reason to play any starter more than 10 mins a half? This team has 5 games in the next week. At this point i really don't see any point whatsoever in playing these guys into the ground. The biggest thing here is that they have one more home game after this one for the rest of the season. All of the rest of them are on the road. The only real questions that remain are who the Blazers will play? The mix is the Clippers, Memphis, or the Spurs. The Blazers are going to have to try to win these games if they want to get lucky and pull out HCA. There is a number of ways that can indeed happen. My personal choice right now would be Memphis and they do have some games to play still also. Going through all the ways this could happen is crazy. What i do know is the Spurs look to be playing as well as they have all season and i never like the looks of a series against any team from Los Angeles. Heck it could be against the Dodgers and i would be wondering if they could pull it off?

Breakdown on this game is pretty simple. The T-Wolves don't have any players to suit up so the starters will play 40+ minutes. You are going to see lots of Zach Lavine and Kevin Martin. Lavine is going to do a few flashy dunks i am sure so the game might be fun to watch. I don't suspect the Blazers to have trouble winning this game. I also see Stotts playing 10-12 players tonight.

The way this looks to me is a win tonight is important. They play GS tomorrow and that team has no reason to go all out for a win. The Blazers might catch a break there. One day rest and they come home and play Utah who is out of the Playoffs but is playing for pride. Then it gets sticky....OKC might still be in the running and it will be in their house. The Game at Dallas might be a bore/scrimmage. Dallas is not moving up or down. Portland might need the win so we will see?

Pick tonight is CJ McCollum. I would expect him to play plenty and lead all scorers.

Go Blazers!

kjironman is a fan!!!

 

[MAS RipCity]

This game would have made so much more sense to rest our players than Brooklyn ...

 

[BBert]

This game would have made so much more sense to rest our players than Brooklyn ...

Hopefully, we still can.

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

Ahem.......as I said... take THAT minnehaha trolls!

 

[Boise Blazer]

In a perfect world we would jump out to an early lead, rest the starters and get to some extended run for Fraizer, Leonard and CJ

 

[Boob-No-More]

In a perfect world we would jump out to an early lead, rest the starters and get to some extended run for Fraizer, Leonard and CJ

I'd love to see Meyers have another big game to build his confidence going forward. With all of Minnesota's injuries, they'll have a shortage of big men in uniform tonight. Should be the perfect opportunity for Meyers to have another solid game.

BNM

 

[BlazerBeav]

If we hadn't dropped two games to this horrible team, we'd have HCA. Ugh.

 

[illmatic99]

We've given them 12.5% of their total victories.

Equivalent of 6-7 games in a 50 win season. smh

 

[Boob-No-More]

If we hadn't dropped two games to this horrible team, we'd have HCA. Ugh.

All teams lose games they should win. GSW lost to the Lakers, the Spurs, for as dominant as they've been lately, recently lost to the Knicks in a game where Pop did NOT rest his stars. MEM also lost to MIN and DET, too. If you look at all of the top teams in the West, all but the Clippers have at least two losses to crap teams. The Clippers seem to be the only team that have consistently beaten the teams they should beat. Only one of their losses (a mid-December loss @DEN) is to a team that has been eliminated from the playoffs. On the flip side, that means they have a worse record against playoff teams than the other top teams in the West.

BNM

 

[riverman]

Can anyone close their eyes and name the starting lineup for the Wolves tonight? I sure couldn't!

 

[HomerLovesKoolAid]

Can anyone close their eyes and name the starting lineup for the Wolves tonight? I sure couldn't!

Uh.....I'll try it.....
Licky Lubio
Kevin Martin
Kevin Garnet
Kevin Loughery
Rick Adelman

 

[S550]

Damn I can't wait to see cj tonight and continue to do his thing

 

[riverman]

Uh.....I'll try it.....
Licky Lubio
Kevin Martin
Kevin Garnet
Kevin Loughery
Rick Adelman

That Rick Adelman could just be a game changer!

 

[gatorpops]

Wouldn't be so easy if three of the five didn't have Kevin as there first name.

 

[gatorpops]

We gonna win this going away!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Blazers

 

[riverman]

Wouldn't be so easy if three of the five didn't have Kevin as there first name.

Three guys with the first name Kevin...so they are called the KKK?

 

[riverman]

We gonna win this going away!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Blazers

Great avatar! Hope the kid grows up to see half a dozen championship banners hanging at the Moda Center!

 

[riverman]

If there was one game BRoy should attend this season, it could be this one

 

[blue32]

considering past performances against these fucks, I do not think to highly of our squad tonight.... Hopefully they prove me fucking dead w

 

[Boob-No-More]

Can anyone close their eyes and name the starting lineup for the Wolves tonight? I sure couldn't!

I got this...

Starters:
Terry Porter
Brandon Roy
Martell Webster
Gary Trent
Theo Ratliffe

Bench:
Rod Stickland
James Robinson
Robert Pack
Sebastian Telfair
Dante Cunningham

BNM

 

[magnifier661]

I got this...

Starters:
Terry Porter
Brandon Roy
Martell Webster
Gary Trent
Theo Ratliffe

Bench:
Rod Stickland
James Robinson
Robert Pack
Sebastian Telfair
Dante Cunningham

BNM

I had to look this up and you just made me spit my coffee out you bastard!

I can't believe that many ex blazers became timberwolves!

 

[Boob-No-More]

I had to look this up and you just made me spit my coffee out you bastard!

I can't believe that many ex blazers became timberwolves!

They seem to be especially fond of our ex-point guards.

BNM

 

[stampedehero]

In a perfect world we would jump out to an early lead, rest the starters and get to some extended run for Fraizer, Leonard and CJ

Hey that only happens in SA.

 

[stampedehero]

Our team ought to win or a lot of fans will be puking on their carpet tonight!