December 1, 2010
7:30 p. m. Eastern
TV: NBA TV
You really can't talk about Portland without talking about injuries. Greg Oden is the most well-publicized absent Blazer, done for the year with yet another knee problem. But he's not the only one. Joel Przybilla is also out and the team had to cut promising young big Jeff Pendergraph in the preseason because of injuries, so the team is really thin up front. (Of course, the Celtics have their own frontcourt problems, being -- as they are -- without Kendrick Perkins and Jermaine O'Neal). The bigs left standing are Marcus Camby and LaMarcus Aldridge. At 36, Camby is still an elite shotblocker and rebounder, but he's no longer much of an offensive threat. At the same time, he has the capability to hit jumpers if he's given the opportunity. If he's going to do any damage offensively, then, it will either be on the glass or in the pick and pop. Aldridge is a versatile big who has more or less consistently had his average game in six meetings with Boston over the past three seasons.
The other big injury to Portland is to Brandon Roy, who has now played the last three games after missing the previous three. He returned with two strong games against the Hornets and Nets (both losses), but was rather quiet in Tuesday night's defeat in Philadelphia. As he's struggled, second-year player Wes Matthews has emerged as a legitimate scorer on the wing. Matthews -- who went undrafted out of Marquette but started 48 games as a rookie in Utah before coming to Portland in the offseason -- is going to give Ray Allen a bit of trouble on both ends of the floor. Allen will need to show up ready to work, which isn't usually a problem for him.
Portland is really struggling, having lost four in a row now, including most recently to lowly New Jersey and Philadelphia. Boston will be the third game of a four-game road trip, and on the second night of a back-to-back, with a presumably easier task ahead of them on Friday at Washington, some teams might be tempted to take the night off, especially if things don't go their way early. I wouldn't expect that out of the Blazers, but I do think Boston are heavy favorites.
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