Hard to see a win here...especially since the Lakes spanked 'em in LA earlier this season...
They will win tonight.
Hobbled Roy.
No Camby. No Oden.
No Pryzbylla.
Wallace will not arrive in time to play.
Pyrzbilla has been back for a few weeks now. _________________ Nobody in the NBA can touch the Laker brand, which, like the uniform color, is pure gold.
They’re not quite the Charlotte Bobcats, but the Portland Trail Blazers have nonetheless been a major thorn in L.A.’s side over the past few seasons, at least when playing at the Rose Garden.
In fact, the Lakers had lost nine consecutive games dating back to Feb. 23, 2005, before a Kobe-Bryant-less squad won in Portland on Feb. 6 of last season. Even with that win, the Lakers are just 3-15 in their last 18 trips to Oregon.
Phil Jackson’s “they wanted it more than we did” phrase comes to mind from those games at least in the past few seasons, the Blazers and their boisterous fans approaching the two Laker games each season like Game 7 of a playoff series, but L.A. treating the games like … well, just another regular season game.
That could explain why the Lakers failed to win in Portland in two of the past three seasons (1-5 overall) while going to the Finals in each campaign. Another major factor was the play of Brandon Roy, Portland’s best player over that period of time.
But this season, Roy has played in only 23 games while battling troublesome knees, averaging career lows of 16.6 points 3.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds, numbers he exceeded even as a rookie in 2006-07. Even though the Oregonian reported Wednesday morning that Roy is likely to return against the Lakers, the current reincarnation of the Blazers belong not to Roy, but LaMarcus Aldridge.
Since Roy was shut down on Dec. 15, Aldridge has turned into a basketball monster. He’s gotten a bit better every month, going from 15.7 points in October to 18.9 in November, then 20.4 in December and 24.9 in January. Now in February, Aldridge has gone off entirely, averaging 29.1 points with 8.3 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.6 steals, all season highs for a month except on the glass (he grabbed 10.4 per game in January). He’s scored at least 34 points in five of nine February games, seven of which were Blazer wins, and hit the 40-point mark twice.
The University of Texas product had to pick things up due not only to Roy’s absence, but also that of center Marcus Camby, battling his own knee injury since January 15, who will be out of the line up against the Lakers. Replacing Camby is the much smaller Dante Cunningham, plus Joel Pryzbilla off the bench. Guards Andre Miller and Wesley Matthews have been solid throughout the season, while Nicolas Batum and Rudy Fernandez see the rest of the minutes on the wings.
It’ll be interesting to see how Roy’s able to play on his knees, but regardless, the Lakers know they’ll have to deal with Aldridge.
Always have to rush back for the Lakers. All you heard from Mike Miller was he wants to come back for the CHristmas game vs the Lakers. Perkins coming back early from his injury a few games before the Laker game when he was expected to miss it. In years past also.
Joined: 18 Feb 2008 Posts: 5916 Location: Formerly Pow Gasol
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:05 pm Post subject:
It will be interesting if a trade goes down right before the game. _________________ "Kobe Bryant is the best player in the world and is basically unstoppable when his game is on" - Barack Obama
"What I'm doing right now, I'm chasing perfection" - Kobe Bryant
It will be interesting if a trade goes down right before the game.
Yeah, to see what Portland players will be missing if the Gerald Wallace trade went through as they are saying.
The rumor right now is Pryzbilla and cash. Andre Miller might be part of the deal. _________________ Nobody in the NBA can touch the Laker brand, which, like the uniform color, is pure gold.
Oy, blazers announcers are the absolute WORST. I know a lot of people on here complain about basically every other teams announcers, and for the most part the other 29 teams announcers never generally bother me that much, it's all good you know. But portlands announcers are really really.....REALLY bad.
Joined: 26 Apr 2001 Posts: 25928 Location: out there
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 5:52 pm Post subject:
Makave7iThaDon wrote:
Oy, blazers announcers are the absolute WORST. I know a lot of people on here complain about basically every other teams announcers, and for the most part the other 29 teams announcers never generally bother me that much, it's all good you know. But portlands announcers are really really.....REALLY bad.
they truly lack professionalism whining about calls.., bet even on pregame they prewhine about Kobe this and Kobe that etc
Joined: 27 Dec 2008 Posts: 1933 Location: City of Angels
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 7:14 pm Post subject:
Trey wrote:
Makave7iThaDon wrote:
Oy, blazers announcers are the absolute WORST. I know a lot of people on here complain about basically every other teams announcers, and for the most part the other 29 teams announcers never generally bother me that much, it's all good you know. But portlands announcers are really really.....REALLY bad.
they truly lack professionalism whining about calls.., bet even on pregame they prewhine about Kobe this and Kobe that etc
I've seen a lot of the blazers home broadcasts and they seem to be pretty good. In any case, the absolute worse is tommy h. from Boston.
Sorry for posting in here but I clicked on that "L2DK" says lakers will make a trade - what was it about or what was the rumor? _________________ #11/08/16 America became GREAT again
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