Game Thread SEEDING GAME# 7: BLAZERS @ MAVERICKS - AUGUST 11, 2020 - TUESDAY, 3:30, TNT & NBCSNW

[Darkwebs]

2019-20 REGULAR SEASON RECORD
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
33 - 39
(12-24 Road)
DALLAS MAVERICKS
42 - 30
(20-17 Home)

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

PG

DAMIAN LILLARD VS LUKA DONCIC

SG

CJ McCOLLUM VS TIM HARDAWAY Jr

SF

CARMELO ANTHONY VS DORIAN FINNEY-SMITH

PF

ZACH COLLINS VS KRISTAPS PORZINGIS

C

JUSUF NURKIC VS BOBAN MARJANOVIC


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

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WHEN: 3:30 PM (PDT), TUESDAY, 8/11/2020

WHERE: The Arena at ESPN Wide World of Sports, Orlando, Florida

TV BROADCAST:

RADIO BROADCAST:

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--------------BENCH--------------
- PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS -

ADAMS , SIMONS , TRENT Jr.

HEZONJA , LITTLE , HOARD

GABRIEL , WHITESIDE , BROWN


- DALLAS MAVERICKS-

BAREA , BURKE , WRIGHT

CURRY , REAVES , CLEVELAND

KIDD-GILCHRIST , JACKSON , KLEBER


INJURIES
TRAIL BLAZERS
Hassan Whiteside (left hip strain): QUESTIONABLE
Jaylen Adams (back): QUESTIONABLE
Trevor Ariza (personal reasons): OUT
Caleb Swanigan (personal reasons): OUT
Rodney Hood (torn Achilles): OUT
MAVERICKS
Luka Doncic (right ankle): QUESTIONABLE
Kristaps Porzingis (left knee): QUESTIONABLE
Seth Curry (sore right leg): QUESTIONABLE
Dorian Finney-Smith (hip): QUESTIONABLE
Courtney Lee (left calf injury): OUT
Dwight Powell (right Achilles tendon): OUT
Jalen Brunson (right shoulder labrum): OUT
Willie Cauley-Stein (personal reasons): OUT




HEAD COACHES

- VS –

TERRY STOTTS --- RICK CARLISLE

OFFICIAL MAVERICKS' GAME NOTES
OFFICIAL BLAZERS' GAME NOTES ​

• Tuesday's game will be the fourth and final matchup between the Trail Blazers and the Mavericks during the 2019-20 season. Dallas leads the season series, 2-1.

• LAST MEETING: The Mavericks defeated the Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Jan. 23, 133-125. Dallas had seven players score in double figures, led by Luka Doncic who finished with 27 points (11-25 FG, 2-11 3-PT, 3-6 FT), six rebounds, nine assists and two steals. Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 47 points (16-28 FG, 8-15 3-PT, 7-7 FT), six rebounds, eight assists and one steal. CJ McCollum missed the contest with a left ankle sprain.

• Damian Lillard has scored at least 25 points in 16 of his last 17 games against the Mav- ericks. In that span, he has averaged 30.5 points and 7.0 assists while shooting a combined 65-of-155 (41.9%) from the three-point line. Lillard is averaging 36.3 points per game against Dallas this season.

• Gary Trent Jr. scored 20 points (7-10 FG, 6-7 3-PT) to go with two rebounds and one assist in 31 minutes off the bench against Dallas on Jan. 23.

• HEAD-TO-HEAD HISTORY:
ALL TIME: Trail Blazers lead, 85-75
IN PORTLAND: Trail Blazers lead, 53-25
AT THE MAVERICKS: Mavericks lead, 50-32

​

 

[Darkwebs]

BATTLE FOR THE 8TH

​

 

[Darkwebs]

This will be a back-to-back for the Mavs. However, it sounds like Dallas will be resting Luca, Porzingis, and Finney-Smith against the Jazz on Monday, so maybe they will be back Tuesday to play against the Blazers.

 

[Chris Craig]

This will be a back-to-back for the Mavs. However, it sounds like Dallas will be resting Luca, Porzingis, and Finney-Smith against the Jazz on Monday, so maybe they will be back Tuesday to play against the Blazers.

Crap. Why can't they rest them against us

 

[oldmangrouch]

Crap. Why can't they rest them against us

Maybe Carlisle doesn't want to lose to Stotts?

 

[AldoTrapani]

Crap. Why can't they rest them against us

Id rather them play we don’t do well with B squads

 

[kjironman1]

Gotta be time for the Blazers to rest some players at some point. Been wondering about Jaylen Adams? Sure would have been nice to sign a player that could have actually helped the team out.
Time for Whiteside to get a start and rest the beast at bit also.

 

[kjironman1]

I voted Grizzlies.
But really the Blazers need to be in the 8th spot and they need to win the first game. The only way they can get into the Playoffs and have some rest before they start.
There will be no play in tourney for the Eastern conference. The Hornets are 6 games back of the Magic. The entire league will be waiting for the results of the West.

 

[TBpup]

Hopefully the Blazers can get this one if the Mavs are playing everyone. They couldn't beat the Clips who sat Kawhi/Beverly, and then the rest of the good players down the stretch of the 4th. They barely beat the 76'ers who were without Simmons and then Embiid for most of the game and it still took a 51 spot from Dame to scrape out the win.

It seems like with so many good players out for the last 2 games, the Blazers should be getting more separation.

 

[Jon]

the mavericks could potentially get to the 6th spot, so i would assume they would play the starters today against the Jazz. if the mavericks lose, they will have 7th locked up and if i were carlisle, i would rest starters after today if they lose.

 

[Chris Craig]

I voted Grizzlies.
But really the Blazers need to be in the 8th spot and they need to win the first game. The only way they can get into the Playoffs and have some rest before they start.
There will be no play in tourney for the Eastern conference. The Hornets are 6 games back of the Magic. The entire league will be waiting for the results of the West.

Pretty sad the Hornets who are not in the bubble passed the Wizards who are. If the Wizards lose their last two games, the Bulls might be ahead of them too.

 

[Scalma]

Hopefully the Blazers can get this one if the Mavs are playing everyone. They couldn't beat the Clips who sat Kawhi/Beverly, and then the rest of the good players down the stretch of the 4th. They barely beat the 76'ers who were without Simmons and then Embiid for most of the game and it still took a 51 spot from Dame to scrape out the win.

It seems like with so many good players out for the last 2 games, the Blazers should be getting more separation.

That’s not how the NBA works, I wish people would realize this. Players constantly mention that playing teams with a bunch of backups is a lot of times the most difficult. There’s no scouting report, and much less structure.

The bubble games so far have been a great example. The blazers have played their best against teams that weren’t resting anyone.

 

[Chris Craig]

Stotts always struggles against his ex boss Carlisle

 

[kjironman1]

Pretty sad the Hornets who are not in the bubble passed the Wizards who are. If the Wizards lose their last two games, the Bulls might be ahead of them too.

I actually had to look at the eastern standings. Wow that is crazy.

 

[Nhawz]

I’ve heard that the mavs want to keep us out of the playoffs at all cost, and are resting their guys today so that they are at full strength tomorrow.

 

[TBpup]

That’s not how the NBA works, I wish people would realize this. Players constantly mention that playing teams with a bunch of backups is a lot of times the most difficult. There’s no scouting report, and much less structure.

The bubble games so far have been a great example. The blazers have played their best against teams that weren’t resting anyone.

Ahh, the Mike Barrett philosophy. Their bench beats our starters because we have no scouting report. Fine, then it should work the other way. When the Clips have Kawhi and Harrell back and play the rest of their good players, lets run out Wenyen, Mario, Adams, Little and Zach. We should blow them out because they have no idea what to expect.

 

[Labinot41]

With the Suns winning against OKC right now, this is a must win game for us, and probably the more difficult game of our last two. If we go 1:1 our record is 33:40, the Suns play against the 76ers and Dallas (last game for them, so very likely without Doncic, Porzingis etc), if the suns go 8:0 in the bubble, their record is 33:39, which is better than us, in that case we have to hope that the Grizzlys gonna loose both games, but their last game is against Milwaukee, the Bucks probably gonna play their 3rd stringers. In that scenario, the play-in would be Grizzlys vs Suns and we are out, let's hope the whole Team is aware of that and plays their best Ball in these last two games. One loss could be crucial

 

[KSF-ERIC]

Mavs only down 1. Boban with 20.

 

[noknobs]

I’ve heard that the mavs want to keep us out of the playoffs at all cost, and are resting their guys today so that they are at full strength tomorrow.

Did we do something to them that I'm not aware of?

 

[Jon]

ok, the standings are nerve racking now....

 

[blazerkor]

This is the biggest game of the season. There's no way of getting around that. If we beat these guys then we're likely in. The Nets are a much easier win and I still don't think we'll sleep on them with the play-in positioning on the line and so close. The Mavs should be motivated and rested but we should be too. God I wish we'd start Gary tomorrow and bring CJ off of the bench or even bring Melo off the bench. I just want Gary covering Luca, Dame on Seth and one of the other two against Hardaway on D. I think Melo could better exploit Seth, Hardaway or Luca on offense. Anyway, I doubt Stotts will budge from his rotations but I wish he would. Gary on Luca makes the most sense right?

 

[Orion Bailey]

Ahh, the Mike Barrett philosophy. Their bench beats our starters because we have no scouting report. Fine, then it should work the other way. When the Clips have Kawhi and Harrell back and play the rest of their good players, lets run out Wenyen, Mario, Adams, Little and Zach. We should blow them out because they have no idea what to expect.

damn. I agreed with him until you posted this and turned the lightbulb on.
@TorturedBlazerFan

i take back what i said this morning.
Lol.

 

[KSF-ERIC]

This is the biggest game of the season. There's no way of getting around that. If we beat these guys then we're likely in. The Nets are a much easier win and I still don't think we'll sleep on them with the play-in positioning on the line and so close. The Mavs should be motivated and rested but we should be too. God I wish we'd start Gary tomorrow and bring CJ off of the bench or even bring Melo off the bench. I just want Gary covering Luca, Dame on Seth and one of the other two against Hardaway on D. I think Melo could better exploit Seth, Hardaway or Luca on offense. Anyway, I doubt Stotts will budge from his rotations but I wish he would. Gary on Luca makes the most sense right?

The Nets have been very good in the bubble. Aren’t they 4-2?

 

[blazerkor]

The Nets have been very good in the bubble. Aren’t they 4-2?

They beat Sac and the Wizards... not impressed, the Bucks who played Giannis 16 minutes and also rested the rest of their starters, then played the end of their bench about as much as Giannis played... again not impressed and their other win was against the Clippers who had Kawhi but not PG13, we lost to a worse Clippers team so I am impressed to some degree with this win. One impressive win in six games. Also they got blown out by the Celtics and also blown out buy the Magic who didn't score for the last seven minutes of the game and still won by ten... not impressed. I know we will beat the Nets unless Dame can't play or we lose two or more of our other 6 guys that really matter. I'm not saying our team has been really impressive either, I'm just saying that we will beat the Nets.

 

[Zach Collins Enthusiast]

This is the biggest game of the season. There's no way of getting around that. If we beat these guys then we're likely in. The Nets are a much easier win and I still don't think we'll sleep on them with the play-in positioning on the line and so close. The Mavs should be motivated and rested but we should be too. God I wish we'd start Gary tomorrow and bring CJ off of the bench or even bring Melo off the bench. I just want Gary covering Luca, Dame on Seth and one of the other two against Hardaway on D. I think Melo could better exploit Seth, Hardaway or Luca on offense. Anyway, I doubt Stotts will budge from his rotations but I wish he would. Gary on Luca makes the most sense right?

Dame on Doncic

 

[blazerkor]

Dame on Doncic

You think that's better than Gary? I mean maybe it is but Luca torched us twice and played well in the other game. Dame was assigned Luca at some point in all of those games and it didn't go well if I remember correctly but as the numbers show no one in the league has done too well against Luca. I just thought Gary could do the best and putting Dame on maybe the best offensive player in the league this season might not allow Dame to do as well on offense where he's pretty damn good himself. I don't know though because Dame did do well against Dallas this season. I do know that Gary is the best perimeter defender we have and I'd like to have him start in this very important game.

 

[Zach Collins Enthusiast]

Gary is too feisty, Luca's pace is slower

 

[Bruno_Sabino]

Biggest game of the season. We need to win

 

[blazerkor]

Gary is too feisty, Luca's pace is slower

That's what I'm thinking, Gary gets up in Luca's shit and takes him out of his comfort zone. Speeds him up a little and causes some disruption. If we don't have one guy do that to him, then we will end up having to trap, blitz or some other form of doubling the guy and then he'll just pick us apart with his passing ability. I say run Gary at him hard and if that gets Gary into foul trouble or gasses him out then we bring in Little to put pressure on him. That's the only way I see us limiting his scoring and at the same time keeping him from killing us with his fantastic passing. Maybe Stotts has a better idea, he is the professional but I imagine his idea will be to just approach this game like every other game and play the best straight-up man to man defense we can and if that doesn't work he'll go to a zone and if that doesn't work he'll go back to the straight man to man... maybe he'll thrown in some blitzing double teams that will result in easy threes or inside dunks but hey, who knows maybe whatever Stotts devises will work. Most likely Luca will light us up, Dame will light them up and it will come down to the rest of the team, which in this situation, I think we will win. We have more big time options in Nurk, CJ, Melo, and Gary while they have more depth but I think the big time performers shine in the big games.

 

[Labinot41]

This Game basicly decides our season. I'm convinced that Luka and Porzingis are gonna play, because the Mavs are trying to avoid the Clippers, and by reading on reddit, they are trying to play the Nuggets. They can get the 6th seed with a win against the Blazers, and another problem is, if the Nuggets get the 2nd seed, the Mavs will tank in the last game to get back to the 7th seed, and who they play in the last game? Yeah the Suns, I know it's all just hypothetical, but it's still funny to think about all these scenarios. That being said, no matter if Doncic and Porzingis are playing or not, we definetly can not play the way we did against Denver, Clippers und the 76ers, we need big time improvement and especially Defense, better Shooting