Blazers @ MIN Game Preview (12/10/14):
Them: 4-16, Last in the Northwest Division
Our Last game: W @ DET, 103-99 12/9/14
ESPN said:
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 23 points Tuesday to help Portland improve to 2-0 on its five-game trip with a 98-86 victory at Detroit. Aldridge moved into sole possession of second place on the team's scoring list. His 11,347 career points are 17 more than Terry Porter, but still 6,693 shy of Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler.
"Right now, I'm just focused on getting these wins on the road," said Aldridge, who is averaging 28.7 points and 11.0 rebounds in the past three road games. "This has been one of our tougher road trips, and the next one is tough as well."
Portland's defense slowly took control in the third quarter, holding the Pistons to 22 percent shooting (4 for 18) and expanding the lead to as many as 17 points. It was 76-62 going into the fourth, but the Pistons finally put together enough baskets and stops to make a run.
Monroe's layup pulled Detroit within 81-77 with 7:12 to play, but Aldridge hit two straight baskets and Damian Lillard rattled home a 3-pointer to keep the Pistons at bay.
"It was disappointing that Detroit made that run at the end, but I liked the way we finished the game and took care of our business," said Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts.
Their Last game: L v. GSW, 12/9/14 In one of their worst performances of the season, shooting 36.0 percent -- including 2 of 11 from beyond the arc -- and finishing with 19 turnovers, Minnesota lost in Monday's 102-86 game against Golden State.
ESPN said:
Andrew Wiggins had 21 points and six rebounds for the Timberwolves, who are playing without three starters and have lost six in a row. Thaddeus Young added 13 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota. The Wolves shot just 35.6 percent in the first half and turned it over 13 times to go into the locker room trailing by nine.
The woes can be traced in part to an injury list that includes Ricky Rubio (ankle), Kevin Martin (wrist), Nikola Pekovic (wrist), Ronny Turiaf (hip) and Mo Williams (back).
Williams may soon return, but Rubio and Pekovic could be out for four more weeks.
"Now we're looking at a situation where we might be going into a rebuild, which changes the dynamics of everything," coach Flip Saunders told the team's official website. "... It's not pleasant for anybody ... But sometimes you're forced to do things that you don't plan on doing."
Injury Updates: CJ McCollum, Out (finger). Dorell Wright (day-to-day), Will Barton (out)
Minnesota: Martin, Pekovic, Rubio, Turiaf (out), Mo Williams (doubtful)
Matchups:
PG: Damian Lillard v. Zach Lavine (8.9ppg, 3.1apg, 2.4rpg)
SG: Wesley Matthews v. Corey Brewer (10.6ppg, 3.6rpg, 2.8apg)
SF: Nic Batum v. Andrew Wiggins (11.9ppg, 3.6rpg)
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge v. Thaddeus Young (13.9ppg, 4.5rpg)
C: Robin Lopez v. Gorgui Dieng (8.6ppg, 7.8rpg)
Give-a-Rip (City) Factor—a.k.a. why you should watch: To see if MIN has improved since the Gastro Bowl. To see how badly we maul them when relatively healthy. To see how much burn Victor Claver and Meyers Leonard get. To see Wiggins at full strength, and with 1/4 of the season as seasoning. To see if our 3pt shooting comes back.
Current Power Rankings:
RipCityTwo (PtldPlatypus): (21) I actually think they have a chance to be good, and fun, and soon--but not for a couple months.
ESPN: (28) Losing at home to an 0-17 squad is bad enough. Losing at home to the previously winless Sixers when the visitors shoot a paltry 39 percent from the floor makes it tough for us to focus on the absences of Kevin Martin, Ricky Rubio and Nikola Pekovic as reason to pardon the Wolves.
Covers.com (29) The T-Wolves were supposed to be bad, but not THIS bad. Eleven of their last 13 losses have come by double digits.
NBA.com (27) Pace: 99.1 (5), OffRtg: 99.6 (24), DefRtg: 110.8 (29), NetRtg: -11.8 (29)
The Wolves applied for the No. 30 spot with Wednesday's loss to the Sixers and are threatening to take the "Worst Defense in the League" title from the Lakers. But there have been moments of promise here and there. Shabazz Muhammad has averaged 18 points on 58 percent shooting in the last five games, looking like one of the league's better post-up wings.
Link to Grandpa Blaze's Prediction Game
Link to MediocreMan's Over/Under game
Links to other team’s site(s):
http://www.nba.com/timberwolves/ Minnesota’s NBA page
Final Thoughts: Destruction. Pain. The only thing that will ameliorate the MIN misery is Coach Stotts calling off the dogs and giving Claver some run---and that might not even help. I think that POR gets off their poor-shooting skid and really puts it on a team that is having trouble getting the ball into the hoop, even against poor-defending teams. We win this one big.
Blazers 128
MIN 90
- VS –
BLAZERS' GAME NOTES 
