Re: GAME THREAD: BLAZERS @ CLIPPERS - NOVEMBER 8, 2014; SATURDAY, 12:30 PM (PST), CS
Blazers @ LAC Game Preview (11/8):
Our Last game: 11/6/14. Awesomeness v. Dallas. LMA had 20/7, Dame had 18/6/5, Nic 8/9/9 and the bench pulled out 42 points and 10 assists as the Blazers crushed the Mavs 108-87.
Their Last game: L 121-104 Golden State Warriors (11/5/14).
ESPN Game Recap said:
Jamal Crawford scored 24 points, and DeAndre Jordan had 17 points and 13 rebounds for a Clippers team that is off to a shaky start. Los Angeles (3-2) opened with a string of close games before getting whipped by the Warriors. "I saw a beautiful game from one team," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "They are a better team right now and by a lot."
Changes to their roster:
Clips Nation said:
Spencer Hawes was the best three point shooter among seven footers last season — by a good margin ‚ giving (Doc) Rivers something he's always wanted, a floor stretching big he can pair with either Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan (Byron Mullens didn't turn out to be that guy last season). Meanwhile Jordan Farmar has shot well over 40% from deep over his last few NBA seasons, and while he may not be the ball hawk or lane attacker that the departed Darren Collison was, his ability to knock down threes is a very good fit for this team… This should be a "no excuses" season for the Clippers. Sterling is gone. Rivers is in charge, and has been there for a full season. Paul and Griffin are veteran leaders. They have a roster that goes at least nine deep, including all five starters and nine players total back from last year's team. Getting past the defending NBA Champion Spurs will not be easy, but the Clippers need to do it soon or risk becoming irrelevant again.
Injury Updates: Joel Freeland still day-to-day, Big Baby Davis was out as of Nov. 7’s injury report, but rumors are that he could be available.
Matchups:
PG: Damian Lillard v. Chris Paul. One of the two marquee matchups tonight with two All-Star PGs squaring off against each other. One of the few times all year where Damian will be in a distinct positional disadvantage, and to help the team win he’ll have to step up. In 3 games last year against LAC he never had a game score over 11, averaging 15pts/3.7assists though he shot over 50% from 3 as the Blazers went 2-1. CP3 didn’t play game 82 against us, but in the other two went for 54 points and 28 assists (though, interestingly, he went a combined 0-3 FT in two games, while averaging 88% on 6FTs/game against other teams). CP3 is again leading the league in steals—as he has in 6 of the last 7 seasons.
SG: Wesley Matthews v. JJ Redick/Jamal Crawford. Ballhanding wings with ridiculous range and little conscience are the order of the day for Wes. While Crawford has more ability to break Wes down off the dribble (and Redick much more likely to run off screens for catch-and-shoots) neither should provide much to slow down Wes on the offensive end, where he’s averaging a career-high 18ppg on 54% shooting (37% from 3).
SF: Nicolas Batum v. Matt Barnes. Forget what I just said about “ballhandling wings”. Barnes is a glue guy right now (think “poor-shooting 34 y/o Ime Udoka”) that can play heady D but is averaging 6ppg on 37% shooting (26% from 3). Nic should be free to focus on CP3 during a decent amount of possessions, and if Matt Barnes is the guy who eventually burns us, I think Coach Stotts will take his chances with that. Nic had a stat-filler last game, getting 8/9/9 in 28 minutes, but it’s interesting to see if Good, Box Score-Filling Aggressive Nic shows up, or if he’s passive on the offensive end and lets the D play 5-on-4. Frankly, though, if he’s helping to lock down CP3, there’s enough firepower to hang without him.
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge v. Blake Griffin. Another marquee matchup, and about the flip of the Damian/CP3 matchup for the Blazers. Griffin’s not as young a stud as Damian, and LMA isn’t quite the “grizzled veteran” that CP3 seems to be revered as, but LMA is in a place (both in team leadership, shooting and overall game) where Kia Boy is still hoping to reach. You can’t sleep on his talent, though—and he’s attempted to teach himself the art of long-range shooting for this year. But looking at his shot charts and percentages (36% on jumpers), I’m fine if he wants to show me what he’s learned all game. When he’s in the paint, he’s dangerous—both for his skillset and the propensity to have the referees call bogus fouls for him. I think I’ll save my Professor Andre Miller reference for later.
C: Robin Lopez v. DeAndre Jordan. Both are about the 5th option on offense, though POR trusts RoLo waaaaaaaaaaay more with the ball than LAC does Jordan. He’s started out the year shooting 71% on limited attempts, but is up toward that 9ppg level. His calling card is D/rebounding, which is elite, and in the right circumstances can shut down the lane. Also the guy most likely to retaliate when a Blazer (I’m guessing Kaman or Robinson) puts Griffin on his keister at some point during the game.
Give-a-Rip (City) Factor—a.k.a. why you should watch: I keep saying this (and will continue to), but it’s “another early-season matchup at home versus a western conference playoff contender”. Both teams have legitimate star (and fire-) power at the point and power forward positions. Portland and LAC are in similar places so far this season, with some uneven games played, some unprojected losses and general angst about “are they really going to make the leap”? POR at least has the Happy Factor going from two straight dismantlings of CLE and DAL, that Top 5 (?!?!) defense and signs of life from the bench. We knew the shooting would come around at some point, but if the guys become Top 5 in the NBA in defense as well…? (This is where some of my fanboi compadres might say something like “sqweee!” I don’t know why)
Current Power Rankings:
RipCityTwo (PtldPlatypus): (11) Kerr knows the game, but he has never coached. Until this team proves that they're upper echelon with him at the helm, I'm not buying it.
ESPN: (8) Maybe it's a good thing that the Clips have to see their hated rivals by the Bay so soon, because this is a team already in need of a jolt. Most Underwhelming Team of the Week, to be precise, heading into Wednesday's Golden State trip after following up two nervy wins with a home L to the Kings.
Covers: (3) The top three teams in the rankings are a combined 1-8 against the spread entering Wednesday, a clear sign of inflated lines. The Clips are 3-1 SU but also 0-4 ATS.
Grantland: (Championship Contenders) The Clips made huge strides in Doc Rivers’s first year importing an amped-up version of Tom Thibodeau’s defense. They finished seventh in points allowed per possession and held steady at that level when Griffin and Jordan played together — a change from previous seasons, when those two were an uncoordinated mess.
Still: The Clips struggled against the league’s best offenses. That’s not atypical, but the Clips surrendered about 108 points per 100 possessions against the league’s dozen best offenses — equivalent to what the Lakers’ defense, third-worst in the league, gave up for the season.
NBA.com (9) It's great that Blake Griffin has put in a lot of work on his jumper. Bob Thate knows what he's doing and floor spacing is critical. But Griffin has become a little too jumper happy, taking 52 percent of his shots from outside the paint through three games, up from 37 percent last season. He was 0-for-8 from the outside in Sunday's loss to the Kings.
Bleacher Report (11) The LA Clippers were off to a great start before getting embarrassed by the Warriors Wednesday night in the Bay. They failed to play any defense whatsoever and stood idly byu as the Warriors scored 15 threes. Star forward Blake Griffin is off to yet another career scoring year with 25.8 but has a career-low 6.4 rebounds per game. The Clippers can figure it out, and Doc Rivers usually will, but for now their start has left much to be desired.
Link to Grandpa Blaze's Prediction Game
(No MediocreMan's Over/Under game on weekends)
Links to other team’s site(s):
Clippers Official Site
Clips’ Nation They have a pretty stellar game preview
here, even if they do link to the BlazersEdge preview.
Final Thoughts: I like where the Blazers are a lot more than where the Clippers are right now. LAC definitely has some firepower, and playing in a 12:30 Pacific game is a little odd for everyone involved, but POR’s shooting is starting to come around and they haven’t (excepting maaaybe SAC, which, troubling enough, was another road game) had a poor defensive showing yet. LAC could definitely get off to a 35-pt first-quarter start, but I will believe in our Top 5 D until it’s no longer there. Another tidbit to watch is that, even though the Clips have Jordan and Griffin, they’re 30th in the league in rebounding (versus our ranking of 4th). Even if our shooting is a bit off, the Blazers have shown that no one is above crashing boards and getting second-chance points. This is a game that I think will surprise national pundits a bit, and I think it’ll start a nice weekend off right.
Blazers 109
LAC 95
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BLAZERS' GAME NOTES 
