Game Thread SEEDING GAME# 2: BLAZERS @ CELTICS - AUGUST 2, 2020 - SUNDAY, 12:30, ABC & NBCSNW

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Darkwebs, Jul 31, 2020.

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On a scale of 1-10, what's your excitement level for this Blazers season restart?

Poll closed Aug 3, 2020.
  1. 10 - Extremely excited

    34.7%
  2. 9

    8.2%
  3. 8

    30.6%
  4. 7

    4.1%
  5. 6

    6.1%
  6. 5

    2.0%
  7. 4

    2.0%
  8. 3

    6.1%
  9. 2

    2.0%
  10. 1 - Not excited at all

    4.1%
  1. Darkwebs

    Darkwebs Awakened to emptiness Staff Member Moderator

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    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    2019-20 REGULAR SEASON RECORD
    PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
    30 - 37
    (11-23 Road)
    BOSTON CELTICS

    43 - 22
    (23-9 Home)


    _____________________________
    ---------
    PROBABLE STARTERS---------


    [​IMG]
    [​IMG] PG [​IMG]

    DAMIAN LILLARD VS MARCUS SMART

    [​IMG] SG [​IMG]
    C.J. McCOLLUM VS JAYLEN BROWN

    [​IMG] SF [​IMG]
    CARMELO ANTHONY VS GORDON HAYWARD

    [​IMG] PF [​IMG]
    ZACH COLLINS VS JAYSON TATUM

    [​IMG] C [​IMG]
    JUSUF NURKIC VS DANIEL THEIS


    ------------------------------------------------------


    ------- JERSEYS -------

    [​IMG] --- [​IMG]

    --------------------------------------------------------------



    WHEN: 12:30 PM, SUNDAY, 8/2/2020

    WHERE: The Arena at ESPN Wide World of Sports, Orlando, Florida
    [​IMG]



    TV BROADCAST:
    [​IMG]
    AND
    [​IMG]


    RADIO BROADCAST:
    [​IMG]



    ------------------------------------------------------



    --------------BENCH--------------
    - PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS -
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
    ADAMS , SIMONS , TRENT Jr.
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
    HEZONJA , LITTLE , HOARD
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
    GABRIEL , WHITESIDE , BROWN


    ----- BOSTON CELTICS-----
    [​IMG] [​IMG][​IMG]
    WALKER , WATERS , EDWARDS
    [​IMG] [​IMG][​IMG]
    WANAMAKER , GREEN , LANGFORD
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
    OJELEYE , G.WILLIAMS , R.WILLIAMS III
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
    KANTER , POIRIER , FALL

    INJURIES
    TRAIL BLAZERS
    Jaylen Adams (back): QUESTIONABLE
    Trevor Ariza (personal reasons): OUT
    Caleb Swanigan (personal reasons): OUT
    Rodney Hood (torn Achilles): OUT
    CELTICS
    None



    HEAD COACHES
    [​IMG] - VS – [​IMG]
    TERRY STOTTS --- BRAD STEVENS

    :reading:OFFICIAL CELTICS' GAME NOTES
    :reading: OFFICIAL BLAZERS' GAME NOTES






    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2020
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  2. Darkwebs

    Darkwebs Awakened to emptiness Staff Member Moderator

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    BATTLE FOR THE 8TH
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  3. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    Next game for Memphis is against the Spurs who are also in the hunt. That might be a tough game. After that they play the Pelicans. If the Blazers can beat Boston i think i would be rooting for the Pelicans to beat the Griz.
     
  4. BonesJones

    BonesJones https://www.youtube.com/c/blazersuprise

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    Especially if the Clippers can beat New Orleans before that game
     
  5. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    If that happens this could easily turn into a race for the eighth seed instead of simply trying to make the elimination round. Obviously being in the position to have to win one of two is preferable.
     
  6. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    The Celtics just lost to the Bucks. Then after the Blazers they play the Heat who they are in a race with for the 3rd seed. After that they play the Magic who are also in a fight for 7th or 8th seed.
    Every game is important. The question for the Celtics is who do they really want play. The Pacers or the 76ers? If it was me i would be playing tough to hold onto the 3rd seed so i could draw the Pacers.
     
  7. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    If Trevor Ariza does his personal time with his kid can he quarantine and be added to the team at a later date?
     
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  8. hoopsjock

    hoopsjock Well-Known Member

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    I'm pretty sure opting out means you can't come back at all this season.
     
  9. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    I was wondering about that? Because he is on the injured list and on the roster.
     
  10. TBpup

    TBpup Writing Team

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    Time to take the next step up. The same effort as against the Grizz will get you beat in this game.
     
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  11. SharpesTriumph

    SharpesTriumph Well-Known Member

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    I'd think NBA would allow Ariza, but he'd have to quarantine full period 10ish days.

    If the Blazers are still playing it means they did well... not sure you can incorporate Ariza back effectively on the fly to basically a new team. The Blazers might be better off setting up roles without him.
     
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  12. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    The other side to that is if the Blazers have played well enough to keep playing they will be playing even tougher opponents and could very well need his defensive abilities and veteran presence. Watching the end of the Grizzlies game and having the ability to pull Ariza off the bench in the last 2-3 minutes would have been very helpful. Melo and Mario did fine in that game but Ariza could have subbed in certain stretches and it would have paid off.
     
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  13. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    Of course we’re gonna miss Ariza, we finally had a small forward that fit everything we needed. You don’t just replace that. Doesn’t mean you can’t work around it though.
     
  14. blazerkor

    blazerkor Well-Known Member

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    The idea was floated that it's going to take going 6-2 to make the play-in for the 8th seed. There's no way that any of these sub .500 teams are going to win 75% of there games against better competition than they played against to end up with a sub .500 record. The more likely situation is whoever (out of Memphis, us, NOLA, Sac and San Antonio) goes 5-3 will be a lock to be in that play-in situation. Most of these teams will go 4-4 or 3-5 because their records against worse competition were around those rates. I don't see us or any of the other teams in the race for the eighth seed going 6-2 or better... OK maybe us but no one else. Hell the two teams that were supposed to be our biggest competition both dropped their first games.

    As for Boston... I think we can beat these guys. We'll just have to stay with all of those shooters on D and hammer them inside a lot on offense. I sincerely hope we run a lot of plays that start with a Dame/Nurk pick and roll. Also what are they going to do with Nurk, Zach, Melo or Hassan if we post those guys up or those guys back their defenders down. Each of our guys I just mentioned outweigh their likely defender by like 20 or more pounds. If they can't kill us with there offensive speed on the perimeter, they may have to take one of their best guys out and play Enes and Theis together.
     
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  15. UKRAINEFAN

    UKRAINEFAN Well-Known Member

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    https://www.espn.com/nba/preview?gameId=401224720
    "The Portland Trail Blazers look to take another step toward chasing down a playoff spot when they face the Boston Celtics on Sunday near Orlando.

    Ninth-place Portland (30-37) resides 2.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies (32-34) in the battle for the last available playoff spot in the Western Conference.

    The Trail Blazers look to ride the momentum of Friday's 140-135 overtime victory against Memphis into their encounter with Boston (43-22).

    The Blazers are thrilled with the comeback of 7-foot center Jusuf Nurkic, who played his first official game since March 25, 2019. He recorded 18 points, nine rebounds, a career-high-tying six blocks and five assists in 33 minutes as a starter.

    Starting power forward Zach Collins returned after being out since late October due to an injured left shoulder. He contributed nine rebounds, seven points and three assists in 37 minutes.

    Portland received dominant games from its star guards. Damian Lillard had 29 points, nine assists and five rebounds in 45 minutes and C.J. McCollum had 33 points, six assists and three rebounds in 46 minutes. Combined, they shot 24-for-43 from the floor in a must-win game, and their skill could be trouble for the Celtics.

    "This is playoff basketball from us," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said of this push for the postseason. "We have that pressure on us. You can't shy away from it when you are in our position."

    Meanwhile, the Celtics are looking to slowly get guard Kemba Walker back into the flow. Walker, who had been out due to an injury to his left knee, played nine minutes in an exhibition scrimmage last week and 19 on Friday in a 119-112 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

    Walker scored 16 points against Milwaukee. However, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Walker will still be on a minutes restriction against Portland.

    "I would love to be like, 'I don't care about (a) minutes restriction.' But I can't," Walker said. "I want to take steps forward, but I have to be smart about things. I want to be there for my teammates when we get to the playoffs.

    "Hopefully, by then, the restrictions will be completely off."

    Said Stevens: "This is all about strengthening his knee for the playoffs."

    Another issue for Boston is the play of standout forward Jayson Tatum, who was named a 2020 All-Star and the Eastern Conference's Player of the Month in February.

    On Friday, however, Tatum shot just 2-of-18 from the floor, including 0-for-4 on 3-pointers.

    The good news for the Celtics -- who fell behind 17-2 to the Bucks on Friday -- is that guard Marcus Smart continues to provide energy off the bench. He had 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting versus Milwaukee."

    --Field Level Media
     
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  16. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    I'm guessing this game will be rescheduled.
     
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  17. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    Storm?
     
  18. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    Yes.
     
  19. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    I’ve been watching that but it seems it will just be rain in Orlando?
     
  20. kjironman1

    kjironman1 Well-Known Member

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    Don’t see anyone with “World B Free” on their jersey? Or “World Peace”?
     

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