https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1479539150869118980?s=20
This news definitely holds more significance due to the uncertainty surrounding Damian Lillard's situation.
PART ONE: Problems Swept Under the Rug
In some ways, the issues plaguing the Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers mirror each other.
In recent years, both teams have gotten used to playoff berths. The Indiana Pacers made the playoffs 5 times in a row (and 9 of the last 10 years) before their streak snapped last season. Meanwhile, Portland has rattled off their own streak of 8 straight playoff berths.
Unfortunately for both teams, getting to the playoffs has been easier than winning in the playoffs. The Indiana Pacers have lost their last 6 playoff series and have gotten swept 3 separate times in that span. Portland has lost in the first round in 4 of their last 5 trips themselves. Their big success came in 2019 when they roared to the Conference Finals, but it's debatable how close that team truly was to contention; they ended up getting swept by the Warriors (without Kevin Durant).
These days, getting swept in the playoffs may be a nice piece of nostalgia. It's been a rocky road for both Indiana and Portland so far in 2020-21. The Pacers are 14-24, and the Blazers are a nearly identical 14-23. Things have gone from blah to worse.
So what went wrong? And what do we do to fix it?
PART TWO: The Department of Redundancy Department
The other reason that Indiana and Portland are easily linked is because they both have stars that may be not-so-easily linked.
In Indiana, the question mark is the pairing of bigs Domatas Sabonis (a two-time All-Star) and Myles Turner (a hugely impactful defensive presence.) They tend to play Sabonis at PF, but it's not an ideal pairing in a modern NBA. One can't help but wonder if their offense would benefit from some wings instead. It's been a consistent issue for the Pacers lately. In fact, the last time their offense has finished in the top 10, Danny Granger was leading the team (back in 2010-11.) In a league where most teams are downsizing, the Pacers may be too big.
Meanwhile, Portland has the problem of being too small. Damian Lillard is a pure PG, and fellow star C.J. McCollum has point guard size himself. They tend to play McCollum at SG, but it's not an ideal pairing in regards to their perimeter defense. Playing the two together also slides Norman Powell to SF where his length and defense is less effective. Sure enough, defense has been the Blazers' Achilles heel. They finished 28th in defense two seasons ago, 29th last ye
... keep reading on reddit ➡##Tonight's Officials
- Sean Wright (#4)
- Nick Buchert (#3)
- Phenizee Ransom (#70)
Replay Center
- Matt Boland, Eric Lewis, Aaron Smith, Andy Nagy
##General Information
| TIME | MEDIA | LOCATION | Team Subreddits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 PM Eastern | Game Preview: NBA.com | Moda Center; Portland, OR | Kings 🦁👑: /r/Kings |
| 9:00 PM Central | Game Matchup: NBA.com | Blazers: /r/RipCity | |
| 8:00 PM Mountain | Play By Play: NBA.com | ||
| 7:00 PM Pacific | Box Score: NBA.com |
Team Records 📈📉
| Portland Trail Blazers | Sacramento Kings 🦁👑 | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Conference Rank | 3rd (West) | 3rd (West) |
| Last 10 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Current Streak | | |
Injury Report 🚑🏥
| Portland Trail Blazers | Sacramento Kings 🦁👑 | |
|---|---|---|
| Tony Snell (Right foot; sprain) OUT | TBD | |
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Probable Starters 5️⃣
| Portland Trail Blazers | Position | Sacramento Kings 🦁👑 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damian Lillard | PG | De'Aaron Fox | ||
| CJ McCollum | SG | Tyrese Haliburton | ||
| Norman Powell | SF | Harrison Barnes | ||
| Robert Covington | PF | Maurice Harkless | ||
| Jusuf Nurkic | C | Richaun Holmes |
##Streams
Looking for a stream? Visit the websites that replaced /r/nbastreams (like SportSurge); Please no stream-related discussion in the thread
NBCSN Stream: http://stream.nbcsports.com/rsn/nba-kings-live-stream
| 124 - 121 |
| Box Scores: NBA & Yahoo |
| |
| GAME SUMMARY |
| Location: Moda Center(17467), Clock: |
| Officials: Sean Wright, Nick Buchert and Phenizee Ransom |
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento Kings | 24 | 38 | 38 | 24 | 124 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 23 | 26 | 36 | 36 | 121 |
| |
| TEAM STATS |
| Team | PTS | FG | FG% | 3P | 3P% | FT | FT% | OREB | TREB | AST | PF | STL | TO | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento Kings | 124 | 42-92 | 45.7% | 17-41 | 41.5% | 23-29 | 79.3% | 7 | 43 | 24 | 22 | 6 | 10 | 4 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 121 | 45-93 | 48.4% | 12-35 | 34.3% | 19-22 | 86.4% | 9 | 49 | 25 | 22 | 5 | 12 | 5 |
| |
| PLAYER STATS |
Please don't post links to streams directly on the subreddit. We don't want to get in trouble and go the way of r/nbastreams. Just PM them.
>Sources tell myself & @AdamNBorai : There is a growing rift between Portland Trail Blazers ownership, Damian Lillard, & the front office. Dame has been in touch with players on other teams this off-season & monitoring Portland's future before committing to anything. More to come.
Damn, Farbod is legit so this is bad for Portland
Use this thread as a place to share your thoughts on the previous game as well as a place to discuss the upcoming match-up or anything Blazer related in general.
| 114 - 83 |
| Box Scores: NBA & Yahoo |
| |
| GAME SUMMARY |
| Location: Moda Center(16143), Clock: |
| Officials: Brian Forte, Tre Maddox and Phenizee Ransom |
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio Spurs | 32 | 36 | 16 | 30 | 114 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 22 | 25 | 18 | 18 | 83 |
| |
| TEAM STATS |
| Team | PTS | FG | FG% | 3P | 3P% | FT | FT% | OREB | TREB | AST | PF | STL | TO | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Antonio Spurs | 114 | 44-91 | 48.4% | 14-36 | 38.9% | 12-16 | 75.0% | 6 | 48 | 32 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 5 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | 83 | 29-82 | 35.4% | 12-34 | 35.3% | 13-17 | 76.5% | 8 | 41 | 19 | 20 | 8 | 18 | 6 |
| |
| PLAYER STATS |
Please don't post links to streams directly on the subreddit. We don't want to get in trouble and go the way of r/nbastreams. Just PM them.
Please don't post links to streams directly on the subreddit. We don't want to get in trouble and go the way of r/nbastreams. Just PM them.
Please don't post links to streams directly on the subreddit. We don't want to get in trouble and go the way of r/nbastreams. Just PM them.
Use this thread as a place to share your thoughts on the previous game as well as a place to discuss the upcoming match-up or anything Blazer related in general.
Use this thread as a place to share your thoughts on the previous game as well as a place to discuss the upcoming match-up or anything Blazer related in general.
