Lakers Preview

Huge game tonight versus the Lakers, it will take a near perfect game to take out the Lakers who are also playing for playoff seeding (for the finals, not the western conference). I think we can do it, and does Vegas, who put us as a 1.5 point favorite.

The national media is sure hopping on board the Blazer train, here is what ESPN's John Hollinger had to say about the Blazers:

But most of all, I want to see this matchup because I'm increasingly thinking that the Blazers are the one team who can make L.A. sweat in the postseason. Denver hasn't matched up with the Lakers well the past two seasons, and some of the other teams we expected to contend haven't quite lived up to expectations.

But the Blazers have played reasonably well against the Lakers in recent matchups, are healthy entering the postseason, and have the strongest Power Ranking of any Western Conference foe. We may be getting a preview of the conference finals tonight, and if not, we're getting a look at what could be a very competitive and testy second-round fight.

Also from Hollinger, a calculated odds of who the Blazers will play in the first two rounds:

Portland's likely opponents

Round 1	Odds	Round 2	Odds
New Orleans	30.3	L.A. Lakers	47.7
Houston	23.8	Denver	23.3
San Antonio	18.4	Utah	12.6
Utah	16.3	Dallas	8.8
Dallas	8.8	New Orleans	3.0
Denver	2.4	San Antonio	2.9
		Houston	1.8

What do you guys think? Who would you rather play assuming we have home court advantage? New Orleans or San Antonio? I would have to go with New Orleans, because the health of Chandler and Posey is questionable. Not to mention if they are healthy, if we get Chandler in early foul trouble versus Oden, they have a very thin frontcourt.

Gambler's Corner

Blazers -1.5
Over/Under 193.5

Suprised by the line? I'm somewhat suprised, but Portland always plays the Lakers tough at the RG, so I am going with the Blazers and the over. I think we are going to get out and run and get some easy buckets and win by a fairly comfortable margin (8-10).

Playoff Thoughts & Spurs Preview

Wow, we got lucky last night. The Blazers managed to pull out a close win versus the Grizzles, on some late BRoy and Outlaw heroics.

After such a close game, I began to think, would it have been that bad to have lost that game? The Blazers currently sit in 5^th place in the west and are poised to enter a first round matchup with Houston. If they moved down to the 6^th seed, they would see an Manu Ginobli-less Spurs team. So I pose this question to you guys. Who would you rather see in the first round? Houston or the Spurs?

I would have to lean with the Rockets. The Spurs still scare me, and any team with Tim Duncan on it can be poised to make a post season run even when they are not at 100%. I also truly feel that we could give Houston a great run for their money in the first round. Who on their team has playoff experience? Artest? He doesn’t even have a ton. Yao and Battier have been, but been knocked out in the first round multiple times. Brooks has never been. Scola has been, but like Yao and Battier, booted early. Houston doesn’t have a huge “experience” advantage over us, so that’s why I like that matchup more. The only catch with playing Houston though is it is going to take some of our other guys stepping up to help us win. Houston is going to harass the crap out of Roy and Aldridge, and dare someone else to beat them. Well that is what we are going to have to do.

Let me know what you guys think.

Game Preview

Personally I think we need to win every game we can win at this point in order to try and secure a home court advantage in the playoffs. Tonight’s game versus the Spurs would be a nice step in that direction. If we win tonight we will move into a tie with San Antonio for 3^rd in the west, bumping Houston down to 5^th.

San Antonio will be playing without Ginobli who is out for the season with stress fracture in his foot. Tim Duncan is gimping around on a bad quad, so I like our chances tonight. However, you better believe that San Antonio will come out tonight fired up to avenge the butt whooping we put on them in Portland last month. Below are my keys to the game.

1. Keep Parker Out of the Lane
1. I know, easier said then done, but if we can come over and contest shots, and force Parker to shoot jumpshots it will go a long ways in helping us win this game.
2. Stay Connected on D
1. Just like Nate always says we need to stay connected. That means that when we go to help on Parker or Duncan, our other guys needs to be ready to rotate to open shooters. Roger Mason, Bonner, Bowen, Udoka and pretty much everyone else can shoot from deep.
3. Stay Aggressive on Offense and Get to the Rim
1. We cannot be intimidated by San Antonio’s physical play. We did a decent job of standing up to Houston the other night, but there was a lull when we stopped going to the cup, and started settling for jumpers. We can’t do that with the Spurs or we are toast.

Gambler’s Corner

Blazers +2

Over/Under 180.5

I am going to take the Spurs and the Under. I think the Blazers are going to still have trouble staying motivated after achieving their goal of making the playoffs. I think they will come out somewhat complacent, and without urgency, and once you are down the Spurs, its tough to come back.