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NBA, Tanner Horelick

Friday’s NBA Matchup to Watch (Spurs vs Trail Blazers)

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San Antonio Spurs vs Portland Trail Blazers

(17-9)                           (20-6)

Start Time: 8:00 PM EST

TV Channel: ESPN

Preview: Both of these teams will be entering tonight’s game without their usual line-ups. For Portland, they will be without Robin Lopez who broke his hand Monday and will be out for several weeks. As for San Antonio, they will be missing two key players, Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker, due to minor injuries. Kawhi will be out tonight because of a torn ligament in his hand, but it has been reported that he will not miss extended time and could be back towards the beginning of next week. Tony Parker will be absent from his 4th straight game due to a nagging hamstring injury which will allow Cory Joseph to start another one for the Spurs. Back on Tuesday, when these two teams met for the first time this season, Joseph provided a decently strong showing in the absence of Parker, scoring 12 points and grabbing 5 boards. There main contributor, however, was Leonard who scored 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists but as already stated, he will not be playing here tonight. In their last matchup, San Antonio fell to Portland 108-95 in a game where Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan all did not play. Tonight, they will have Duncan and Ginobili back to hopefully get some revenge on Portland, but it is going to be rather difficult without arguably their best all-around player, Kawhi Leonard, not playing. One other reason that this is going to be a hard one for the Spurs is that Blazers point guard, Damian Lillard, averages about 26+ points per game against the Spurs in his career which could help factor into Portland getting their 21st win.

Prediction: I believe Portland will pick up their 4th straight victory behind which should be a great game from 3rd year Guard, Damian Lillard. Lillard has looked very strong this year, averaging about 20 PPG and leading this Blazers team to an early 20-6 record.

Points Per Game Leaders:

POR – LaMarcus Aldridge (22.2 PPG) SAS – Tony Parker (16.0 PPG)

Rebounds Per Game Leaders:

POR – LaMarcus Aldridge (10.4 RPG) SAS – Tim Duncan (11.0 RPG)

Assists Per Game Leaders:

POR – Damian Lillard (6.2 APG) SAS – Tony Parker (5.3 APG)

NBA, Tanner Horelick

Monday’s NBA Matchup to Watch (Spurs vs Trail Blazers)

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San Antonio Spurs vs Portland Trail Blazers

(17-7)                             (18-6)

Start Time: 10:00 PM EST

TV Channel: Local/League Pass

Preview: In just their first matchup since the Blazers were defeated by the Spurs in the 2nd Round of last year’s playoffs, Portland will look to prove that they have the upper-hand now a quarter of the way into the new season. With Pop choosing to rest all of the “Big Three” (Duncan, Ginobili, Parker), the Trail Blazers will look to pound the ball down low to All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, who will try to take advantage of Duncan not being present. A win tonight would inch Portland closer to the top-seeded Golden State Warriors who are currently 3.5 games above the Blazers and 4.5 games ahead of San Antonio. The Spurs do have Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, though, and will hope to have him control the tempo of the game and pull out a stunning win.

Prediction: The absence of Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker will be too much for the Spurs to overcome and will lose this game in a disappointing fashion. Aldridge will have a huge night of scoring as the Portland Trail Blazers will earn a huge win in front of their own crowd in a rematch from last years playoffs.

Points Per Game Leaders:

POR – LaMarcus Aldridge (22.2 PPG) SAS – Tony Parker (16.0 PPG)

Rebounds Per Game Leaders:

POR – LaMarcus Aldridge (10.0 RPG) SAS – Tim Duncan (10.8 RPG)

Assists Per Game Leaders:

POR – Damian Lillard (6.1 APG) SAS – Tony Parker (5.3 APG)