#PORvsSAC Preview
PORTLAND - The Portland Trail Blazers' recent play hardly resembles that of a Western Conference contender.
Following their worst shooting night of the season, the Trail Blazers will look to avoid their fourth straight defeat Monday night when they host the Sacramento Kings.
Portland (30-11) is one of three NBA teams with 30 wins and ranks among the league's best in both scoring offense (103.2 points per game) and defense (97.0 points allowed). However, that dominance has been largely absent from Portland's game this past week as the Trail Blazers have dropped a season-high three straight, capped by a 102-98 loss at Memphis on Saturday.
Portland has scored just 96.0 points per contest during the streak, and put forth a season-worst 38.7 field goal percentage Saturday.
"If I knew the answer I would fix it. So, I don't know," LaMarcus Aldridge said. "I think we all got to look in the mirror and see what we're doing and see how we can do it better. From the top to the bottom to beat these contenders I think everyone needs to play to a higher level and I think that they've shown us that we have some hard work to do."
Both Aldridge and Damian Lillard continued their stellar seasons Saturday with 55 combined points, while Wesley Matthews drained seven of 14 3-pointers for 25 points of his own. The rest of the team's lineup, though, was mostly silent.
Nicolas Batum has scored five or fewer points in each of Portland's last three games while shooting 3 for 18. Chris Kaman and Meyers Leonard, who have enjoyed significant playing time in the absence of Robin Lopez (hand), combined for just six points on Saturday.
INJURY REPORT
Portland: Robin Lopez (right hand fracture) is out. Joel Freeland (right shoulder strain) is out.
Sacramento: Omri Casspi (eye abrasion & left knee bone contusion) is probable. DeMarcus Cousins (right ankle sprain) is probable. Rudy Gay (left shoulder strain & left knee capsule sprain) is probable. Ramon Sessions (low back strain) is probable. Carl Landry (right wrist sprain) is out. Eric Moreland (left shoulder labral tear) is out.
Projected Starters
SF
PF
C
SG
PG
Season Series
Previous Games
Remaining Games
Series Notes
- The Trail Blazers have won nine of their past 11 games played against the Kings in Portland dating back to 2008-09.
- The Trail Blazers rank sixth in the NBA in 3-point shooting (37.2%), while Sacramento is the fourth best team in the league at defending the 3-point shot.
- LaMarcus Aldridge has scored at least 20 points in each of the last seven games against the Kings.
- Thomas Robinson was originally drafted fifth overall by the Kings in the 2012 NBA Draft. Robinson played in 51 games with the Kings his rookie season, averaging 4.8 points and 4.7 rebounds.
- Ben McLemore teamed up with Thomas Robinson to guide the University of Kansas to the NCAA National Championship Game in 2011-12.
Promotions
In Portland's Last Game
MEMPHIS – The Portland Trail Blazers fell to 30-11 on the season and 12-7 on the road after losing 102-98 to the Memphis Grizzlies Saturday in the second night of a back-to-back at FedEx Forum.
“I was really pleased with our effort in the second half,” said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. “We need to have that kind of effort every night. They made a couple big shots in the fourth quarter, Beno (Udrih) made two jumpers that obviously made the difference. We put ourselves in a position to win a game on the road against a good team and just fell a little short in the second half.”
The Trail Blazers have now lost three straight games for the first time this season and have lost seven of their last eight to the Grizzlies.
Though both teams played road games on Friday, only the Trail Blazers had the look of a team playing their second game in as many nights in the first half.
Portland shot 39 percent in the first 12 minutes, a not-so-stellar percentage to begin with that was only worsened by the Grizzlies shooting a ridiculous 75 percent from the field. To make matters worse, Memphis also out-rebounded Portland 11-5 in the quarter and shot twice as many free throws.
Given those circumstances, Portland trailing 30-23 going into the second quarter was somewhat of a blessing for the road team, though the good times, if you could call them that, wouldn’t continue to roll in the next 12 minutes.
Memphis’ shooting percentage from the field would dip to a respectable 50 percent in the second quarter, which they made up for by going 4-of-7 from three and 6-of-10 from the free throw line. Portland shot worse in the second as well, going 7-of-22 from the field and 1-of-8 from three, though their drop was far more noticeable considering they, unlike their opponent, hadn’t made three-fourths of their shots in the first quarter. The Grizzlies out-scored the Trail Blazers 30-19 in the second quarter and took an 18-point led into the intermission.
But the tide would turn in the third quarter. Portland chipped away at the deficit in methodical fashion after Memphis pushed the lead to 20, their largest of the night, early in the second half. A 11-2 run midway through the third to cut the led to 11, though Memphis countered by rattling off six-straight points to reassure themselves and the FexEx Forum crowd. But the Trail Blazers refused to go quietly, as they made another push and ended the half on a 17-8 run, capped by a Wesley Matthews three a the buzzer, that cut the Grizzlies’ led to 78-70.