Game Thread GAME# 36: HEAT @ BLAZERS - JANUARY 8, 2015 - THURSDAY, 7:30 PM (PST), TNT

PROBABLE STARTERS




PG
MARIO CHALMERS VS DAMIAN LILLARD

SG
DWYANE WADE VS WESLEY MATTHEWS

SF
LUOL DENG VS NICOLAS BATUM

PF
CHRIS BOSH VS LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE

C
CHRIS ANDERSEN VS CHRIS KAMAN







WHEN: 7:30 PM, THURSDAY, 1/8/2014​

WHERE: Moda Center, Portland, OR




TV BROADCAST:





RADIO BROADCAST:


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BENCH

MIAMI HEAT

NAPIER , COLE , ENNIS , GRANGER

WILLIAMS , HASLEM , WHITESIDE , HAMILTON


PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

BLAKE , MCCOLLUM , CRABBE , BARTON

WRIGHT , CLAVER , ROBINSON , LEONARD



INJURIES
HEAT
▪ Chris Andersen (sprained right thumb): PROBABLE
▪ Justin Hamilton (concussion): QUESTIONABLE
▪ Josh McRoberts (right meniscus surgery): OUT
TRAIL BLAZERS
▪ Wesley Matthews (hyper-extended left knee): QUESTIONABLE
▪ Joel Freeland (right shoulder strain): OUT
▪ Robin Lopez (fractured right index finger): OUT


HEAD COACHES
- VS –
ERIK SPOELSTRA--- TERRY STOTTS




OFFICIAL BLAZERS' GAME NOTES ​

GO BLAZERS!!!​

 

POR v. MIA (1/8/15)

MIA: 15-20, 3rd in Southeast Division

Our last game W v. LAL, 98-94

Their last game: W v. BKN 88-84

Injuries: Freeland (out), Lopez (out), Matthews (day-to-day) MIA: None

Matchups:
Lillard v. Chalmers (11.0ppg, 4.3apg, 29% 3pt)
Matthews v. Wade (23.0ppg, 5.6apg, 3.8rpg, 50% FG, 35% 3pt)
Batum v. Deng (14.3ppg, 4.8rpg, 36% 3pt)
Aldridge v. Anderson (5.0ppg, 4.6rpg, 0.9blk/g)
Leonard v. Bosh (21.3ppg, 7.9rpg, 40% 3pt)

Power Rankings:
NBA.com (21) Pace: 91.6 (30), OffRtg: 103.1 (17), DefRtg: 106.7 (26), NetRtg: -3.6 (22)
Though he's getting to the basket far less than he ever has, Dwyane Wade is still shooting better than 50 percent for the third straight season. The Heat can seemingly pick up a win against the Nets when they need one, but don't face Brooklyn again until March. So their slide (3-7 in their last 10) could continue as they head West for a five-game trip.

ESPN (17) After two successive springs delivered Heat versus Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals, Miami suddenly finds itself dueling with Indy for the East's No. 8 seed. Maybe going on the road for six games will spark the Heat, who've been better away (8-8) than they've looked on the Biscayne Bay (7-12).

Covers.com (24) While LeBron's return to Cleveland has not gone according to plan, his former team has fallen on far harder times than we could have imagined. The Heat are 3-7 SU/ATS as home favorites.

Link to GrandpaBlaze’s Prediction Game

Link to MediocreMan’s Over/Under

Final Thoughts: Bosh is still Bosh (with an updated 3pt arsenal, but we already know all about that, right?) and Wade is still shooting 50% from the field when he’s on the floor, but the rest of the team can’t overcome their league-worst pace and poor efficiency (19th) when they do finally shoot. Their defense, never great with LeBron, is Laurentian Trench-abysmal right now, and they’re now a team that we should feel lucky to be facing them while we have Lopez and Freeland out. I like Meyers as a floor-spacing 5th-option that will only shoot if absolutely wide-open (and his 47% from 3 is rapidly going over small-sample-size proportions), and Chris Andersen is about 3 years past when he would be able to hang with LMA. Chalmers has the potential to hang with Lillard around picks (especially the picks we set), but no one rebounds, and this should be too much against a team whose firepower is now concentrated in two names and doesn't the ability to recover if everything isn't going gangbusters, which could be why the only Western Conf teams they've beaten are Utah, Phoenix, Dallas and MIN.

Us 114
Them 97