The Portland Trail Blazers are facing off against the Brooklyn Nets today on the second night of a back-to-back. Portland enters this contest coming off a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last night. Brooklyn is also coming off of a loss to the 76ers, but that was the third of three straight losses before this matchup.
What you need to Know:
Portland Trail Blazers (32-36) vs. Brooklyn Nets (17-50) – Mon. March 16th – 4:30pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network.
How to
watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
How to listen: Rip City Radio 620AM
Trail Blazers Injuries: Shaedon Sharpe, Damian Lillard (Out); Chris Youngblood (Questionable).
Nets Injuries: Egor Demin, Michael Porter Jr., Day’Ron Sharpe, Terance Mann, Noah Clowney (Out); Ben Saraf (Questionable).
What to Watch For:
It’s tanking season. This stretch of the season is known for one thing more than anything else in recent seasons: a long injury report from the NBA’s bottom teams. With Brooklyn more focused on ping pong balls than the playoffs, Portland has a chance to pick up an easy win in the midst of their easiest remaining schedule in the NBA.
Now, for Brooklyn, a loss here would be just another notch on the wall. But for the Blazers, this win could help them in the NBA Play-In standings. Currently Portland sits 10th in the Western Conference. However, barring massive shakeups down the stretch, the Blazers, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers will finish 8th-10th as the three are separated by just 2.5 games. Every win counts for Portland as they try to push for the 8th seed — which requires just one win to make the playoffs — or at least the 9th seed, which gets the first play-in game at home instead of on the road.
Dominate the glass. Portland is the 7th best team in the NBA at grabbing rebounds with 45.8 per game. The Nets sit dead last with just 40.1 per contest. If the duo of Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III is able to control the rebounding battle, it could be a massive advantage for the Blazers. That is especially true with Brooklyn missing two of their top three rebounders in Porter Jr. and Sharpe.
Turnovers galore. What happens when two teams in the bottom five in turnovers per game matchup? Probably a lot of running up and down the court following offensive mistakes. Portland turns the ball over 16.6 times per game, last in the league. Brooklyn is close behind with 15.2 per game, good for 27th. That means both teams will have plenty of chances to capitalize on the mistakes of the other. Will that cancel out? Maybe, but it might also heavily favor one team if either the Blazers or Nets are able to take care of the ball slightly better than average.
What Others Are Saying:
The New York Post’s Brian Lewis talked about the fourth quarter comeback that fell just short in Brooklyn’s loss to Philadelphia.
Brooklyn played without Michael Porter Jr., Egor Dëmin, Day’Ron Sharpe and Nic Claxton — though Claxton was merely rested. Then regulars Noah Clowney, Terance Mann and Ziaire Williams dug a 28-point hole and got benched for the entire fourth quarter.
That final period saw the Nets, utilizing two-ways and a player inked that morning on a 10-day contract, use a 31-9 extended run to flip a 21-point deficit into a lead. But it’s a lead they couldn’t hold, falling just short.
Rookie Danny Wolf had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and he was the only quasi-regular to log more than three minutes in that fourth quarter. Little-used Josh Minott added 14.
Instead, the Nets relied upon two-ways E.J. Liddell (career-high 10 points) and Chaney Johnson (career highs of six points, 10 rebounds, three steals) as well as Malachi Smith, who made his NBA debut after inking his deal that morning.
