Game Day

Casey Holdahl

MEMPHIS - The Memphis Grizzlies are feeling confident back at FedExForum, though facing Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers has become a more difficult challenge since Mike Conley went down.

With their point guard expected to be out again, the Grizzlies try to finish off Portland and advance to the Western Conference semifinals with their seventh straight home win over the Blazers on Wednesday night in Game 5.

Conley played a leading role in holding the All-Star Lillard to 32 total points and 10-of-37 shooting (27.0 percent) in the first two games at Memphis, won by the Grizzlies by a combined 29 points.

Lillard played better in Game 3 with 22 points and nine assists in the Grizzlies' 115-109 win at Portland, which Conley left after taking an inadvertent elbow to the face in the third quarter.

Memphis: Beno Udrih (right ankle sprain) is questionable. Mike Conley (facial injury) is out.

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Game Day Hub: Trail Blazers vs. Grizzlies

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PORTLAND - With the league's best team waiting in the next round, the Memphis Grizzlies will be missing one of their key players as they try to close out the Portland Trail Blazers.

After taking a shot to the eye in Game 3, Mike Conley will only be able to watch Monday night when the Grizzlies try to complete the franchise's first playoff sweep.

Conley, who has also been dealing with a foot injury, went down in the third quarter of Saturday's 115-109 victory at Moda Center when Portland's CJ McCollum inadvertently elbowed him in the face.

The point guard stayed on his hands and knees for several moments before heading to the locker room. According to reports, Conley's left eye was swollen after he was taken to a local hospital for exams. The team said Sunday that Conley would return to Memphis for additional evaluation.

"Proud of my guys for stepping up!" Conley said on Twitter. "Huge win tonight. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. I will be fine!"

Conley has played a major role in Memphis taking a commanding lead in the series, averaging 17.0 points on 54.5 percent shooting in Games 1 and 2. He had 14 points and four assists before leaving Saturday's contest.

Portland: Chris Kaman (L ankle sprain) is probable. Wesley Matthews (L achilles) is out. Dorell Wright (L hand) is out.

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PORTLAND - With a handful of injuries and their top scorers shooting poorly, the Portland Trail Blazers are hoping the raucous crowd at Moda Center can provide a spark.

Returning home with an 0-2 deficit in their first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Blazers look to avoid being pushed to the brink Saturday night.

Portland failed to earn homecourt advantage for this series despite winning the Northwest Division, and Memphis quickly showed why it was one of the NBA's best home teams this season (31-10) with victories of 14 and 15 points in the first two games.

The Blazers also boasted one of the league's best home marks, going 32-9 at Moda Center - considered one of the loudest arenas in basketball - but they've dropped five of the last six meetings with the Grizzlies in Portland, including both this season.

Those two losses were part of a four-game season sweep by Memphis, which has now lost only once in its last 12 against Portland. The Grizzlies have limited the Blazers to 29.7 percent shooting from 3-point range in that span and won by double digits seven times.

Portland: Chris Kaman (L ankle sprain) is questionable. Arron Afflalo (R shoulder strain) is probable. Wesley Matthews (L achilles) is out. Dorell Wright (L hand) is out.

Memphis: Beno Udrih (right ankle sprain) is questionable.

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MEMPHIS - When asked after Sunday night’s 100-86 loss to the Grizzlies in Game 1 of the Western Conference Playoffs if there was anything positive that he could take from the game, Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts, smiled and replied that, “I’m sure I’ll find something.”

Less than 24 hours later when taking questions from the media, Stotts came through on his promise, saying that the work the Trail Blazers put in on the offensive glass was something to build on in an otherwise forgettable Game 1 blowout.

“It takes a lot of work to do the work on the offensive boards on a poor shooting night and you’re down and it takes a lot of energy to do that,” said Stotts. ” To muster that many second-chance points take a lot of effort, and that was good.”

Portland finished with 16 offensive rebounds, which was double the number grabbed by the Grizzlies, and turned those extra opportunities into 23 points, more than a quarter of Portland’s total points scored Sunday night. Of course, the rub when it comes to second-chance points is that they were only created thanks to missing shots, something the Trail Blazers unfortunately did early and often in Game 1.

Portland: Wesley Matthews (L achilles) is out. Dorell Wright (L hand) is out. Arron Afflalo (R shoulder) is questionable.

Memphis: Mike Conley (right foot sprain) is probable. Tony Allen (left hamstring sprain) is probable.

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Game Day Hub: Trail Blazers at Grizzlies

MEMPHIS - After weeks of speculation and the calculation of odds, the Portland Trail Blazers finally know the who, where and when as it pertains to their first round matchup of the 2015 NBA Playoffs. With the Rockets beating the Jazz, the Spurs losing to the Pelicans and the Grizzlies besting the Pacers on the last day of the 2014-15 regular season, we now know that the Trail Blazers will start the 2015 post-season on Sunday versus the Grizzlies in Memphis. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 pm on KGW, 620 AM and TNT.

At first glance, it seems like a tough matchup for the Trail Blazers, and it is. The Grizzlies swept the Trail Blazers 4-0 this season and have won nine of the last 11 meetings between the two teams, giving on the impression that perhaps the Trail Blazers would have been better off playing any of the other five teams that qualified for the post-season in the brutally difficult Western Conference.

But despite finishing their regular season on a four-game losing streak (though it should be noted that they had little to nothing to play for in those games), the Trail Blazers were bullish about their chances of giving the Grizzlies a series after finishing the regular season with a 114-98 loss to Dallas in the regular season finally on Wednesday.

Portland: Wesley Matthews (left achilles tendon) is out. Dorell Wright (left hand fracture) is out. Arron Afflalo (right shoulder strain) is doubtful. Alonzo Gee (right foot sprain) is questionable. CJ McCollum (left ankle sprain) is probable. Nicolas Batum (right knee contusion) is probable. Chris Kaman (low back pain) is probable.

Memphis: Tony Allen (left hamstring strain) is questionable. Mike Conley (right foot sprain) is questionable. Jeff Green (low back tightness) is questionable.

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DALLAS - Getting healthy is the main focus for the Portland Trail Blazers and Dallas Mavericks, who both are locked into their respective playoff seeds in the Western Conference.

Blazers coach Terry Stotts is hoping LaMarcus Aldridge will be able to play when Portland visits Dallas in the regular-season finale Wednesday night.

Aldridge has a left foot sprain that has kept him out of the last two games for the Northwest Division champion Blazers (51-30), who are the fourth seed in the West but won't have home-court advantage in the first round because they will finish with a worse record than the No. 5 seed.

Arron Afflalo will miss up to two weeks with a right shoulder strain, and his replacement in the starting lineup, C.J. McCollum, sprained his left ankle at the end of the first half of Monday's 101-90 loss to Oklahoma City.

McCollum didn't return, nor did Nicolas Batum after he hurt his right knee in the first quarter. Chris Kaman also tweaked his back in the first half.

Damian Lillard finished with 10 points against the Thunder after sitting for the entire fourth quarter.

Stotts isn't sure what his lineup will look like against Dallas, but he's hoping Aldridge will suit up.

Dallas: Devin Harris (left great toe injury) is questionable. Chandler Parsons (right knee injury) is questionable.

Seeing Portland lose 101-90 was really no surprise, nor a big deal, as the Thunder needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive while the Trail Blazers had nothing tangible to play for.

But losing both Nicolas Batum and CJ McCollum, both of whom started Monday night’s game, to injury in the process was the distressing part.

Batum left late in the first quarter with a right knee injury suffered while trying to pull down a rebound with 1:37 to play and would not return. The 6-9 forward landed awkwardly, resulting in his knee buckling in toward his body.

“My knee went inside and I feel it kind of stretch inside my knee,” said Batum. “It’s going to be okay. I can’t really put weight on it… but I just did it. We’ll see tomorrow, see the next couple of days.”

X-rays on Batum’s knee came back negative, though he said it’s possible he’ll have an MRI to check for ligament damage when the team gets to Dallas. Though he wasn’t certain about his status for Wednesday’s game, he said he thought it was likely that he’d sit out Portland’s final game of the regular season.

As for McCollum, he sprained his left ankle with just 11 seconds to play in the first half.

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Game Day Hub: Trail Blazers at Mavericks

OKLAHOMA CITY - Currently on the outside looking in at the playoff picture, the Oklahoma City Thunder need a strong two-game finish to have a chance at the final spot in the Western Conference.

They may have to open that stretch without Russell Westbrook, who will likely be suspended for Monday night's critical contest with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Westbrook posted yet another outstanding performance Sunday, scoring a career-high 54 points on 43 field goal attempts - the most in a non-overtime game since Kobe Bryant took 44 shots en route to 81 points on Jan. 22, 2006 - but the Thunder (43-37) fell to Indiana 116-104, leaving their playoff hopes in serious jeopardy.

"His competitive spirit kept us in this game," coach Scott Brooks told the Thunder's official website. "Even with all of those things happening to use - the free throws and the easy opportunities in transition - those are the things that Russell does. He plays with a lot of heart, desire and determination and he puts us in a position to win the game."

Oklahoma City is currently tied with New Orleans for the No. 8 spot with the Pelicans owning the tiebreaker. New Orleans visits Minnesota on Monday and hosts San Antonio on Wednesday, while the Thunder close that same night at Minnesota.

That challenging path to the postseason grew potentially much more difficult after Westbrook earned a questionable technical foul Sunday, his 16th of the season. Unless it's rescinded by the NBA, the star point guard will be suspended for Monday's game by NBA rules.

Brooks expressed little concern for Westbrook after the game.

Oklahoma City: Kevin Durant (right foot surgery) is out. Serge Ibaka (right knee surgery) is out. Perry Jones (left ankle sprain) is out.

But with LaMarcus Aldridge (sprained left foot), Arron Afflalo (strained right shoulder), in addition to the players with more long term injuries, sitting out Saturday night’s contest against the Utah Jazz, it did afford the Trail Blazers the opportunity to play their reserves, some of whom may very well be called into duty both as starters and off the bench come playoff time, significant minutes in what ended up being a 111-105 loss in front of a sellout crowd of 19,908 on Fan Appreciation Night at the Moda Center.

While one could view the opportunity to play CJ McCollum, Meyers Leonard, and Allen Crabbe far more than their season averages in minutes as a good takeaway from an otherwise ineffective defensive performance, Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts wasn’t in a silver linings kind of mood post-game.

“First off, I’ll say Utah played hard,” said Stotts. “They had a lot of young kids, guys getting an opportunity, and they played hard. They deserved to win. There’s really not an excuse for playing the way we did. It’s very disappointing, very frustrating, and hopefully it was very sobering for everybody.”

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Game Day Hub: Trail Blazers at Thunder

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