GAME THREAD: PACERS @ BLAZERS - 12/2/13, MONDAY, 7 PM, CSNNW

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yuyuza1 said:
I don't think we'll be hurt all that much by the Pacers' attack on O since their best players are wings and that's where our D is the strongest. The problem will be their ridiculous defense that will not only take away threes, but also any inside drives. If we score over a 100, we should win, but if it's in the 80s or even 90s, we're screwed. They play a really boring/methodical game that is ugly as hell to watch.
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I posted these tidbits in another thread, but they seem more appropriate here:

Hoping for a win, but against Indiana's defense, it will be tough. They are a defensive juggernaut - and it's not just Hibbert shutting down the paint. Their Defensive EFF of 85.6 is ridiculous. There are only two other teams in the league with a Defensive EFF below 100. They are the Spurs (Defensive EFF = 97.3) and the Heat (Defensive EFF = 99.4). They also have a ridiculous Opp FG% of .390. Second best is Houston at .422. They don't just lead the league in these two key defensive stats they lead by ridiculously large margins over some very good defensive teams (Spurs, Heat and Rockets).

Our biggest advantage is 3-point shooting. We are 3rd in the league with 3FG% = .414. The Pacers are 14th in the league with 3FG% = .364. On the defensive end, the Blazers are currently 2nd at defensing the 3 (Opp 3FG% = .323), but the Pacers aren't far behind (4th in Opp 3FG% = .332). So, will we be able to get open 3-pointers against Indiana's defense? And, if we do, will our guys be able to knock them down.

The good news is Indiana doesn't defend the 3 on the road (Opp 3FG% = .353, 10th in the league) as well as they do at home (Opp 3FG% = .314, 2nd in the league).

With Hibbert shutting down the paint, we need Batum and Matthews to REALLY step up tonight. Unfortunately, and maybe it's just the small sample size, but both players are shooting the 3 considerably worse at home than on the road.

Nicolas Batum:
Home: 3FG% = .351
Away: 3FG% = .429

Wesley Matthews:
Home: 3FG% = .439
Away: 3FG% - .561

The good news is Damian Lillard shoots the 3 better at home:

Damian Lillard:
Home: 3FG% = .438
Away: 3FG% - .375

But, we can't just rely on Damian and LaMarcus against a tough team like Indiana, we need other people (Nic and Wes) to step up. The good news is our bench shoots the 3 much better at home:

Mo Williams:
Home: 3FG% = .429
Away: 3FG% - .348

Dorell Wright:
Home: 3FG% = .421
Away: 3FG% - .321

Dorell Wright may be a real wildcard here. Last season, in 4 games against Indiana, he averaged 13.5 ppg and shot .444 from 3-point range against them. I wonder if Stotts will look to go with the big line-up for stretches tonight with Batum at the 2 and Wright at the 3.

All-in-all, as a team, the Blazers shoot the 3 slightly worse at home (.405, 8th in the league) than on the road (.420, 4th in the league). Let's hope the home cooking is working and the shots are falling tonight.

Go Blazers!!!

BTW, I'm REALLY excited about tonight's game. I grew up and played high school and college ball in Indiana - I even watched the movie Hoosiers last night on cable. I've now lived half my life in Indiana and half in Oregon. I'm happy for all my friends and family back home that the Pacers are doing well, but of course I'm absolutely ecstatic about my Blazers and their 14-3 start. I'm hoping for a good, hard fought game with the Blazers winning on a last second shot. I really hope it's a close game and it goes down to the final seconds. An occasional blowout can be fun, but it's the close games against the tough, playoff tested teams that build confidence and character.

Our starters vs. their starters:

It's interesting that in all the key advanced team stats, Indiana is currently dominating the league. As I posted above, their team defense isn't just the best in the league, it's the best by a ridiculous margin over San Antonio, Miami and Houston.

As a team, their Deff (Efficiency differential = Offensive eff - Defensive eff) of 27.8 leads the league. San Antonio at 23.5 and Miami at 22.2 are the only other teams with Deff > 20 (the Blazers are 6th in the league at Deff = 11.4). So, it appears the Pacers have a rather substantial advantage in Deff. However, if you just look at the starters, the gap narrows considerably.

Indiana has the best starting 5 in the league with a Deff = 27.5, but the Blazers have the second best starting 5 in the league with a Deff = 22.6.

And if you look at our starters at home Deff vs. Indiana's starters on road Deff, it's practically a tie:

Portland Home Deff = 17.3
Indiana Road Deff = 17.8

I know every game is a unique event, but I hope it ends up being close and we can pull it out at the end.

BNM
 
Natebishop3 said:
The unstoppable force meets the immovable object.
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Work on that hyperbole! This needs an epic hero, battle trac playing in the background. The music they play to introduce the Blazers tonight might be the Blazer's undoing. Damn you McGowen and your non-epicness!
 
Blazer Fanatic said:
Work on that hyperbole! This needs an epic hero, battle trac playing in the background. The music they play to introduce the Blazers tonight might be the Blazer's undoing. Damn you McGowen and your non-epicness!
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I expect a heavy dosage of Chicago and the Rocky soundtrack.
 
This is the kind of game where LA is a difference maker. Indy refuses to double team guys, so will they adjust this strategy, or with they allow LA to get his, and can LA take advantage and have a huge game that other PFs have been unsuccessful at?

This is the game everyone in the NBA will be watching. Let's get greedy!
 
Natebishop3 said:
The unstoppable force meets the immovable object.
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stuck-horse-960.jpg
 
Blazer Fanatic said:
This is the kind of game where LA is a difference maker. Indy refuses to double team guys, so will they adjust this strategy, or with they allow LA to get his, and can LA take advantage and have a huge game that other PFs have been unsuccessful at?

This is the game everyone in the NBA will be watching. Let's get greedy!
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Wondering if they'll put Hibbert on him.
 
It'll be interesting to see if Portland opts to go small at some point and put Batum at PF and Aldridge at C. That basically leaves nobody for Hibbert to guard, and on the other end Hibbert isn't really that efficient of a scorer and does turn it over some. I haven't seen enough Indiana games to know if a good outside shooting team has tried this tactic, but I'm curious.
 
mook said:
It'll be interesting to see if Portland opts to go small at some point and put Batum at PF and Aldridge at C. That basically leaves nobody for Hibbert to guard, and on the other end Hibbert isn't really that efficient of a scorer and does turn it over some. I haven't seen enough Indiana games to know if a good outside shooting team has tried this tactic, but I'm curious.
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And it seems like Stotts got the team some in-game practice for that lineup last night... hmmm...
 
Natebishop3 said:
Wondering if they'll put Hibbert on him.
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I won't be surprised if they swap with West to give a different look, but I doubt it. The last time Indy came to Portland they were blown out. Stevenson and Hibbert laid eggs. Although they are much improved, so are the Blazers. This is gonna be a grind it out game, and no room for cruise control, sloppy plays, or iso ball.
 
Tonight's game is the real deal! Keys to success are going to be shooting the 3 really well and keeping our bigs out of foul trouble early. LaMarcus has to own David West and Nic has to stop George from going off. If Mo is shooting cold early, I'd like to see Earl paired with Damian to get some defense on the court. If Dorell is struggling I hope to see some Victor Claver for defense as well. We'll need our best defenders bringing their "A" game against these guys. This is a game the whole season could turn on. Number 1 vs Number 1! Congrats to coach Stotts! He's a keeper!
 
I can't believe the top 2 teams in the NBA are playing each other tonight and we're one of them! Hasn't been like this since 2000!
 
Damn you, BNM. Making me all nervous.

Can't wait for the game.

Is this the biggest regular season game in a while?
 
KingSpeed said:
I can't believe the top 2 teams in the NBA are playing each other tonight and we're one of them! Hasn't been like this since 2000!
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Hadn't thought about it like that. Damn.
 
KingSpeed said:
I can't believe the top 2 teams in the NBA are playing each other tonight and we're one of them! Hasn't been like this since 2000!
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"The Elias Sports Bureau informs us that the Pacers' and Blazers' combined winning percentage of .882 is the highest shared by two opponents at least 15 games into the season for two decades, dating to the 1993-94 showdown that pitted 16-1 Seattle against 18-1 Houston."

And, I love that it's two small market TEAMS, not LA or NY, or some collaboration of Super Friends + coattail riders.

BNM
 
Boob-No-More said:
"The Elias Sports Bureau informs us that the Pacers' and Blazers' combined winning percentage of .882 is the highest shared by two opponents at least 15 games into the season for two decades, dating to the 1993-94 showdown that pitted 16-1 Seattle against 18-1 Houston."

And, I love that it's two small market TEAMS, not LA or NY, or some collaboration of Super Friends + coattail riders.

BNM
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This is epic. Champion or goat... I'm getting nervous.
 
Boob-No-More said:
"The Elias Sports Bureau informs us that the Pacers' and Blazers' combined winning percentage of .882 is the highest shared by two opponents at least 15 games into the season for two decades, dating to the 1993-94 showdown that pitted 16-1 Seattle against 18-1 Houston."

And, I love that it's two small market TEAMS, not LA or NY, or some collaboration of Super Friends + coattail riders.

BNM
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Great find, BNM! This is making it even more epic! Repped.
 
I feel very good about this game. I'd rather be playing them than Phoenix. We'd be 16-1 with their schedule too. Maybe 17-0.
 
Blazer Fanatic said:
This is the kind of game where LA is a difference maker. Indy refuses to double team guys, so will they adjust this strategy, or with they allow LA to get his, and can LA take advantage and have a huge game that other PFs have been unsuccessful at?

This is the game everyone in the NBA will be watching. Let's get greedy!
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I won't be watching it. No tickets and no Comsuck.

:smiley-cmizdri:
 
With all due respect, here is the Pacers schedule that gave them a fantastic record. I do not see where it is really that much more difficult than Portland's.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat





1

2
vs CLE
cavaliers
W 89-74
3

4

5
@ DET
pistons
W 99-91
6
vs CHI
bulls
W 97-80
7

8
vs TOR
raptors
W 91-84
9
@ BKN
nets
W 96-91
10

11
vs MEM
grizzlies
W 95-79
12

13

14

15
vs MIL
bucks
W 104-77
16
@ CHI
bulls
L 94-110
17

18

19

20
@ NYK
knicks
W 103-96
21

22
@ BOS
celtics
W 97-82
23
vs PHI
sixers
W 106-98
24

25
vs MIN
timberwolves
W 98-84
26

27
@ CHA
bobcats
W 99-74
28

29
vs WAS
wizards
W 93-73
30

Buy Tickets by Day: Buy Tickets by Opponent:
OCTOBER|NOVEMBER|DECEMBER|JANUARY|FEBRUARY|MARCH|APRIL|MAY|JUNE
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Strenuus said:
I'm doing the streams tonight.

That sounds dirty.
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It is. I had to throw my last computer away due to all the communicable diseases. No more streams for me.
 
BBert said:
It is. I had to throw my last computer away due to all the communicable diseases. No more streams for me.
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With Ad Block Pro and AVG I have had no issues.

Everyone says firstrow is good, but I think it's the worst of the streams, IMO.
 
Getting ready to go to the game and I am so pumped. Got a feeling there will be a playoff atmosphere tonight. People around me are used to my yelling, but they are really in for it tonight.

Go Blazers!
 
Treaty_of_Batum said:
Getting ready to go to the game and I am so pumped. Got a feeling there will be a playoff atmosphere tonight.
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Likewise. I think I've said before every home game this year that THIS will be the best crowd so far......I will not differ my position tonight. It'll be rocking!
 
I have a good feeling about the game tonight. The Blazers should get up to play the #1 team in the league at home. Hibberts interior defense won't be bothering Portland.
 
dviss1 said:
I use firstrow. what do you use?
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I'd like to know too - I have used First Row and haven't seemed to have gotten viruses on my Mac - but there are a million pop ups ads and it generally sucks.

Fuck Comcast!
 
soona said:
I'd like to know too - I have used First Row and haven't seemed to have gotten viruses on my Mac - but there are a million pop ups ads and it generally sucks.

Fuck Comcast!
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Truth....
 
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