A six-game homestand at Moda Center continues Friday night when the Portland Trail Blazers (6-5) welcome the Brooklyn Nets (4-7) to the Rose City. Friday’s matchup is the first of two meetings between the Western Conference Blazers and Eastern Conference Nets.
Portland is led by Damian Lillard’s 25.7 points and CJ McCollum’s 23.5 points per game. Lillard has scored 30 or more points in four of the last five games, while McCollum poured in a game-high 36 in Tuesday’s home loss versus Memphis. Shaking off a slow start, center Just Nurkić is averaging 19.5 points on 56.5% shooting and 7.3 rebounds per game through four games to start the month of November.
- WATCH: NBC Sports NW / STREAM
- LISTEN: Rip City Radio 620
Former Los Angeles Laker D’Angelo Russell leads the Nets with 20.4 points and 5.6 assists per game in his first season with the Nets following an offseason trade. Also in his first year with the Nets is former Blazer Allen Crabbe, who contributing a consistent 11.1 points per game on 37.1% shooting from three-point range. Friday is the first meeting for Crabbe against his former team after he was traded in July.
“I’ve seen [the Nets] play a few times, just because I follow AC,” Lillard said of Friday’s opponent. I’ve seen them have really good games, and I’ve seen them when they’ve struggled. The one thing they do is they play hard, they compete. They play with a lot of movement on the offensive end. They got a lot of guys that care. You can tell; they’ve got different guys stepping up. Guys wanna show that they’re a better team than they have been the past few years.”
Through 11 games, Brooklyn leads the NBA in pace of play (possessions per 48 minutes), presenting a different kind of challenge on Friday evening.
Said McCollum: “I think they’ve got a lot of talent… They get up and down, they run. Defensively, they try to put pressure on you.”
Friday’s tipoff from is set for 7pm on NBC Sports NW (STREAM) and Rip City Radio 620.