GAME: Jan 14:Nuggets-Trailblazers NUGGETS PROBABLE STARTERS POS. NO. PLAYER PPG RPG APG NOTABLE F 5 Yakhouba Diawara 6-7, 225 6.1 2.5 1.1 Ranks 4th among rookies in minutes per game (23.6) as of 1/14. F 21 Eduardo Najera 6-8, 235 7.1 4.4 0.9 Has started more games than any other Nuggets player this season (30). C 23 Marcus Camby 6-11, 235 11.7 12.1 3.0 Grabbed a career-high-tying 24 rebounds in 38 minutes vs. Houston on 1/12. G 3 Allen Iverson 6-0, 165 29.3 2.7 7.3 Moved into 17th on the NBA all-time steals list past Charles Barkley (1,648) vs. Houston on 1/12. G 1 J.R. Smith 6-6, 220 16.3 2.6 1.7 Ranks 5th in the NBA in three-point field goal makes per game (2.7) and 3rd in 3FG attempts per game (7.0). TRAILBLAZERS PROBABLE STARTERS Position, Number, Name, Height, Weight, PPG, RPG, APG Forward 5 Ime Udoka 6-5 220 8.5 3.8 1.4 LAST GAME: Collected 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks in 37 minutes ... NOTEWORTHY: Scored a career-high 15 points Dec. 13 at Memphis ... Marked first NBA double-double with 11 points and 10 boards Nov. 6 at L.A. Clippers. Forward 50 Zach Randolph 6-9 258 23.9 10.1 1.9 LAST GAME: Tallied 23 points, 12 boards, three assists and three steals in 23 min ... NOTEWORTHY: Among NBA leaders in free throws made (242) and attempted (292) ... Has 21 double-doubles (18 are 20-plus pts, 10-plus reb) ... Scored 30-plus points nine times. Center 10 Joel Przybilla 7-1 255 2.0 4.2 .30 LAST GAME: Counted three points, four rebounds and two blocked shots in 16 minutes ... NOTEWORTHY: Grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds Nov. 28 vs. Indiana ... Left the Golden State game on Nov. 3 with an abdominal injury, missing the next 13 games. Guard 7 Brandon Roy 6-6 229 13.7 3.8 3.0 LAST GAME: Notched 11 points, two assists, five rebounds and two steals in 30 min ... NOTEWORTHY: Scored a career-high 23 points Jan. 6 at Sacramento ... Has scored double numbers in 10 straight games and 14 of the last 18. Guard 1 Jarrett Jack 6-3 197 12.5 2.5 5.6 LAST GAME: Scored four points and dished two assists in 27 minutes (Wednesday at Dallas) ... NOTEWORTHY: Ranks among NBA leaders in assists and free throw percentage ... Has three doubledoubles ... Had 20 points and 10 assists Nov. 12 vs. Dallas ... Tallied 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists Dec. 10 at Toronto. NUGGETS RED CROSS REPORT OUT: Kenyon Martin underwent successful surgery on his right knee on 11/15 and will miss the remainder of the season. DAY-TO-DAY: Eduardo Najera played vs. Houston on 1/12 despite suffering a left shoulder contusion vs. Milwaukee on 1/8. He will continue to be evaluated on a day-to-day basis ? Nen? has appeared in each of the last five games after missing four games due to right knee inflammation. He is considered day-to-day ? Marcus Camby has played in three straight games after missing one game due to a right hand/wrist sprain. His status is currently day-to-day ? Allen Iverson had x-rays taken on his right foot big toe on 1/8, which came up negative. He will continue to be evaluated on a day-to-day basis TRAILBLAZERS RED CROSS REPORT Darius Miles (right knee) and Travis Outlaw (right ankle sprain) will not play ... Jarrett Jack (concussion) is day to day. TONIGHT'S MATCHUP BY THE NUMBERS KEY FOR TEAM STATISTICS: PPG Points Per Game (measures offense) OPG Opponents Points Per Game (measures defense) FG% % of All Shots Made (2's and 3's) 3PT% % of 3-Point Shots Made FT% % of Free Throws Made RPG Rebounds Per Game APG Assists Per Game SPG Steals Per Game BPG Blocks Per Game TO Turnovers Per Game ...............PPG.. OPG.. FG% 3PT% FT%. RPG APG SPG. BPG. TO NUGGETS 104.7 103.4 .451....310. .747 44.8 23.1 8.65 4.74 16.9 BLAZERS.. 92.1.. 96.8 .447.. .315. .777 38.3 17.1 6.71 4.84 15.4
Prediction: Nuggets 96, Trailblazers 95 Nuggets can win if Camby has yet another great game defensively and if any two Nuggets besides A.I. can shoot more than .400. (The success bar is set very low now.) How about J.R. and either Blake or Yak? One thing is for sure, it won't be Najera. The Trailblazers could easily win if Jack were fully recovered from his traffic accident and he had a good night, but he is apparently out until about next Friday. The Trailblazers also win if both J.R. and Yak can't hit and the Nuggets are kept below 92 points or so.
