GAME THREAD: TIMBERWOLVES @ BLAZERS - NOVEMBER 30, 2014 - SUNDAY, 6:00 PM (PST), CSN

PROBABLE STARTERS




PG
MO WILLIAMS VS DAMIAN LILLARD

SG
COREY BREWER VS WESLEY MATTHEWS

SF
ANDREW WIGGINS VS NICOLAS BATUM

PF
THADDEUS YOUNG VS LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE

C
GORGUI DIENG VS ROBIN LOPEZ







WHEN: 6:00 PM, SUNDAY, 11/30/2014​

WHERE: Moda Center, Portland, OR ​

TV BROADCAST:





RADIO BROADCAST:


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BENCH

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES


LAVINE, BUDINGER , HUMMEL , MUHAMMAD , ADRIEN , BENNETT


PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

BLAKE , BARTON , CRABBE , FREELAND , KAMAN




INJURIES
TIMBERWOLVES
Ricky Rubio (ankle sprain): OUT
Kevin Martin (wrist): OUT
Nikola Pecovic (wrist): OUT
Ronny Turiaf (hip): OUT
TRAIL BLAZERS
Damian Lillard (gastroenteritis): PROBABLE
CJ McCollum (fractured index finger): OUT




HEAD COACHES
- VS –
FLIP SAUNDERS --- TERRY STOTTS




BLAZERS' GAME NOTES ​

GO BLAZERS!!!​

 

Re: GAME THREAD: TIMBERWOLVES @ BLAZERS - NOVEMBER 30, 2014 - SUNDAY, 6:00 PM (PST),

Blazers vs. Minnesota Game Preview (11/30/14):

Them: 4-10, 5th in Northwest Division

Our Last game: v. MEM 11/28/14, L 112-99

Their Last game: @ LAL, W 120-119 11/28/14

Changes to their roster:

Injuries
POR: CJ McCollum out broken finger will miss 3-4 more weeks
Damian Lillard probable with unheated turkey leftovers syndrome

MIN: Kevin Martin 2014-11-21 right wrist surgery will miss 6-8 weeks
Nikola Pekovic 2014-11-29 sprained right wrist/sore right foot is doubtful for Sunday's game against Portland
Ricky Rubio 2014-11-08 sprained left ankle is out indefinitely
Ronny Turiaf 2014-11-29 sore hip is questionable for Sunday's game against Portland

Matchups:

PG: Damian Lillard v. Mo Williams (9.8ppg, 6.3apg)/Zach Lavine (8ppg, 2rpg, 2apg)
SG: Wesley Matthews v. Corey Brewer (11.1ppg, 3.4rpg, 2.4apg, 2.1steals per game)
[b}SF[/b]: Nic Batum v. Andrew Wiggins (11.9ppg, 3.9rpg, 1.1apg)
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge v. Thaddeus Young (13.9ppg, 4.7rpg)
C: Robin Lopez v. Gorgui Dieng (7.8ppg, 7.4rpg, 1.6bpg)

Give-a-Rip (City) Factor—a.k.a. why you should watch: To forget about Friday night. To take a look at the #1 pick in the draft and the guy CLE gave up for K-Love. To get more ammunition for when TimberTrolls come around with their, uh, “glamour shots”. To relive the summer of 2012 “Kaaaaaahn!” saga every time we see Nic drive to the hoop (then again, if you have the Dwight Jaynes/Bouma Ndiaye/Jerry Zgoda Voodoo Doll set, it might be a good time to break them out). To see if we can pull 140 out of our keisters against a turrrrrble MIN defense.

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) No Rubio. No Pekovic. And now no Kevin Martin. So there's no reason for the Wolves to focus on anything other than letting Andrew Wiggins go to make the most of a bad situation ... just as they did in Saturday night's home loss to Sacramento that saw the rook ring up a career-high 29 points.

NBA.com (25) Pace: 98.4 (6), OffRtg: 101.5 (22), DefRtg: 111.5 (29), NetRtg: -10.0 (28)
Kevin Martin hit seven 3-pointers in a game in which he broke his wrist. At that point, none of his teammates had hit as many as seven 3-pointers all season. So yeah, Martin will be missed and the Wolves will have spacing issues in his absence. Andrew Wiggins (29 points against the Kings on Saturday) has had his moments, but the Wolves' defense still stinks.

covers.com (26) The T-Wolves have one win in their last eight games. It came at the expense of the Knicks, 115-99 as one-point favorites.

Link to Grandpa Blaze's Prediction Game

No MediocreMan's Over/Under game on weekends, which is probably good based on my recent record.

Links to other team’s site(s) NBA.com

Canis Hoopus

Timberwolves Game Preview LInk

Final Thoughts I’m predicting a 30-point win, and I think that might be too low. MIN just gave up 119 to a horrible L*kers offense, and has not shown the ability to have a cohesive defense or consistent scorers. Wiggins gets 28 one night and 3 the next. Lavine doesn’t play forever and then pulls 28 out of his butt. They have a lot of “young potential athletes”, but that’s about it, especially with Rubio, Martin and Pekovic gone with injuries. This should be a bloodbath, and we should see extended Truck Robinson Time with a cameo by Meyers Leonar_’s Moustache. If you’re into the Twitter thing, Zach Harper (@talkhoops) is a fun read during any NBA evening, but especially when his Wolves are doing what Wolves do.

Blazers 126
MIN 96

 

Re: GAME THREAD: TIMBERWOLVES @ BLAZERS - NOVEMBER 30, 2014 - SUNDAY, 6:00 PM (PST),

Damian Lillard (gastroenteritis) will play tonight vs #timberwolves #Blazers #RipCity

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