GAME THREAD: NUGGETS @ BLAZERS - 11/9/14, SUNDAY, 6 PM (PST), CSNNW

S T A R T E R S


- - -- - -

TY LAWSON VS DAMIAN LILLARD

ARRON AFFLALO VS WES MATTHEWS

WILSON CHANDLER VS NICOLAS BATUM

KENNETH FARIED VS LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE

TIMOFEY MOZGOV VS ROBIN LOPEZ







WHEN: 6:00 PM, SUNDAY, 11/9/2014​

WHERE: Moda Center, Portland, OR ​

TV BROADCAST:





RADIO BROADCAST:


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BENCH

DENVER NUGGETS

ROBINSON , FOYE , GEE , GALLINARI , HICKSON , NURKIC , MCGEE


PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

BLAKE , MCCOLLUM , BARTON , ROBINSON , KAMAN




INJURIES
NUGGETS
NATE ROBINSON: PROBABLE - Left Hamstring Strain
TY LAWSON: QUESTIONABLE - Left Ankle Soreness
GARY HARRIS: PROBABLE - Right SIJ Contusion (back).
DARRELL ARTHUR: SUSPENDED
TRAIL BLAZERS
NONE




HEAD COACHES
- VS –
BRIAN SHAW--- TERRY STOTTS




BLAZERS' GAME NOTES ​

GO BLAZERS!!!​

 

Blazers @ LAC Game Preview (11/8):

Our Last game: 11/8/14. Um, yeah. 106-102 loss to the Clippers. Damian Lillard had 25/8/7 and LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 and 10 rebounds, but mistakes, giving up offensive rebounds and, um, “foul problems” kept the Blazers from winning at Staples Center.

Their Last game: L 110-101 v. CLE.

Changes to their roster:

Injury Updates: Joel Freeland still day-to-day, Ty Lawson PG - Nov 7: Day-To-Day; J.J. Hickson C - Nov 7: Day-To-Day

Matchups:

PG: Damian Lillard v. Nate Robinson. Krypto-Nate is instant offense, but in his return from injury, he’s not the dynamo we’ve grown accustomed to. That said, Nate always has a contingent down from his Seattle hometown, and his 15.9 ppg against POR in 16 career games is his highest against any team. Damian’s coming off of a Lillard Time Special, 25/8/7 with some 4th quarter heroics to keep the Blazers close. After a rough initial 3 games, he’s 21-40 (10-24 from 3) and averaging 24/7/6 in his last 3. I think we can stop worrying about Damian right about now.

SG: Wesley Matthews v. Aaron Afflalo/Randy Foye. Both can fill it up if needed, but Foye’s been playing (and shooting) a lot more than you may be used to. Wes has been W3$ so far, the most consistent Blazer on both D and O. Still, probably the toughest matchup the Blazers will face.

SF: Nicolas Batum v. Wilson Chandler. Chandler’s line so far looks a lot similar to JJ Redick’s before yesterday, but that’s where the similarity ends. Chandler’s 10 ppg on 33% shooting isn’t going to scare anyone, and he doesn’t have Redick’s pedigree of a career of 15ppg and 40% 3pt shooting to fall back on. Should be a chance for Nic to play fireman on D, rather than locking up a wing stud.

PF: LaMarcus Aldridge v. Kenneth Faried. The Blazers bigs need to ensure they have a body on Faried, who’s been among the best rebounders in the league since being traded from the Blazers on Draft Night so that we could get Nolan Smith and Raymond Felton. LMA has had his shooting percentages down since his hot start to the season, but is still dangerous if left open.

C: Robin Lopez v. Timofey Mozgov. Robin’s had a great week, going 18-27 in his last 3 games to average 15 (and 8 rebounds). Mozgov isn’t a slouch, but his 9ppg/5rpg are about his career high and (in a trend) won’t scare the Blazers.

Give-a-Rip (City) Factor—a.k.a. why you should watch: To get the taste of Saturday’s game out of your mouth. To see a wildly entertaining (hopefully) offensive game. DEN goes a legit 10 (sometimes 12) deep, so there’s some opportunity for the Blazers to make some hay against the Javale McGee’s and Jusuf Nurkics and Eric Greens of the world.

Current Power Rankings:

RipCityTwo (PtldPlatypus): (18) Ty Lawson thinking the Nuggets are a top 3 team in the West gives new meaning to the term "Rocky Mountain High"

ESPN: (20) Interesting bit of trivia to file away as LeBron's Cavs wind through their first extended road trip: Cleveland's final stop on this four-game excursion is Friday night in Denver, which happens to be the team against which King James has enjoyed his least success. The Nuggets are 12-8 all time against LBJ. Covers: (20) I remember a time when the Nuggets were good and had a great homecourt edge. Then Brian Shaw came along.

Grantland: (Potential Interlopers) Remember when the Nuggets were fun to watch? Kenneth Faried had the occasional highlight, but the Denver offense was otherwise ugly through their first three halves of the season, shooting 19-for-86 (22 percent) from outside the restricted area. They made some shots in the second half in OKC on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to come back from 26 down.
The Nuggets should have more shooting on the wing with Gallinari and Arron Afflalo back, and Ty Lawson is a roadrunner with the ball as long as he can play on a balky ankle. Still: They were below average on both ends last season, and there’s a big jump from that level of output up toward 50 wins.

NBA.com (22) Remember when the Nuggets were fun to watch? Kenneth Faried had the occasional highlight, but the Denver offense was otherwise ugly through their first three halves of the season, shooting 19-for-86 (22 percent) from outside the restricted area. They made some shots in the second half in OKC on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to come back from 26 down.


Link to Grandpa Blaze's Prediction Game
(No MediocreMan's Over/Under game on weekends)

Links to other team’s site(s): http://www.nba.com/nuggets/ Nuggets’ NBA page
Final ThoughtsBlazers should have a big bounceback game against their Northwest Divison rivals, even on a back-to-back. DEN’s giving up over 100 ppg, while the Blazers have been holding teams below 96. The only matchup the Blazers are even close on is the SG one (discounting the bench), which the Blazers will take every day of the week. Too much POR offense, and probably an extended look at Crabbe and Leonard tonight.
Blazers 119
DEN 99

 

It's crazy that we have to play this team twice this week, both on the 2nd game of a back-to-back for us, while the Nuggets has rest the day before. After this game on Sunday, the Nuggets don't play another game til Wednesday when they play us again. Brutal!

 

We'll see on Wednesday if our bench can play better. But this one will be at the Moda Center, so our bench has no excuses to lay an egg this time.

 

preview updated

 

...

 

Yo! Yo! Yo!

SlyPokerDog is in da house!

Bringing you the Mo and the Da, live from the Moda!

The good:

Press pass was ready and waiting tonight! Hurray!


The Bad:

I'm not on the list to get free parking. Quick and Canzano are, you'd think I'd make the list. Denny, do we have an expense account?

Also there is no placard on press row for where I'm suppose to sit. Not a bad thing, I just hope I'm not sitting in someone's seat.

 

I'm all about that bass... that bass.... no trouble...

I'm all about that bass... that bass.... no trouble...

Or I am for as long as they play this song. Then I'm about the trouble.

 

This is on the wall across from the press room. I've read it before (I think I'm the only one, lol) but I thought it would be informative to take a picture of it.



As soon as I did this guy walks up to me with this NBA Security badge. I thought I was in trouble, he has this stern look on his face, then breaks out into a smile and asked me if I have them memorized yet. I told him that's what the picture was for.