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| barclayscenter.com |
By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)
February 26th, 2014
W2W4: Brooklyn Nets vs Portland Trail
Blazers
The Brooklyn Nets will be continuing
their circus road-trip on Wednesday night in Portland against the
Trail Blazers. The Nets are now (26-28) on the season, as they are
getting close to the .500 mark, but with the Raptors winning seven of
their last 10 games, it leaves the Nets 4.5 games behind them in the
Atlantic Division.
- Down A Star
On Wednesday night the Trail Blazers
will yet again be without their All-Star Power Forward LaMarcus
Aldridge, who has missed the last four games with a groin strain. In
the four games without Aldridge in this stretch the Blazers are still
playing well going 3-1 with their only loss coming against the San
Antonio Spurs. The Blazers are obviously missing Aldridge, who has
emereged as one of the best if not the best Power Forward in the NBA
this season, as he is averaging 23.9 points, 11.4 rebounds, and one
block per game.
- Don’t Sleep on Lillard
Aldridge wasn’t the only Blazer to
be selected to the All-Star Game however, as with the absence of
Aldridge, Damian Lillard has picked up his already good scoring
season in the last four games. This season the All-Star Lillard has
averaged 21.4 points per game, as last season's Rookie Of The Year
has clearly avoided any sort of sophomore slump. In the past four
games without his partner in crime Aldridge, Lillard is averaging
30.5 points per game in those games. It will be a great match-up to
watch a seemingly healthy Deron Williams against Lillard.
- Second Half Groove
Since the All-Star, like last season
Williams seems healthy for the Nets, and has a bounce to his step,
which just wasn’t their for the first half of the season. Against
the Lakers on Sunday, it was the best game from Williams this season,
as he scored a season-high 30 points. Lillard will be a lot more to
handle for Williams than anyone the Lakers had to offer, but a
healthy Williams is a huge difference maker for Brooklyn as they look
to get to within one game of .500
- Bench Advantage
The Blazers bench is the one glaring
weakness that the Nets should have a noticeable advantage in, as
Brooklyn has one of the better bench units in the league, and it is
expected to get better with Marcus Thornton liking making his debut
Wednesday after dealing with food poisoning. Andray Blatche struggled
against the Lakers, but has been great almost all season, and figures
to have a bounce back game against the Blazers. The availability of
Shaun Livingston may have an affect on the bench, as if Livingston
cant play Jason Kidd maybe starting Andrei Kirilenko again.
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