When: February 23, 2016; 10:00 PM EST
Where: Moda Center; Portland, OR
TV: YES Network
Radio: WFAN 660 AM
The Brooklyn Nets and Portland Trail Blazers couldn’t be franchises headed in more divergent directions. Brooklyn is mired in the Eastern Conference’s cellar without many future draft picks and a long rebuild ahead. Meanwhile, Portland — which can thank the Nets, through trades, for two-fifths of its starting lineup — has a roster full of promising young players and with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, one of the NBA’s best backcourts.
Terry Stotts’ team wasn’t expected to do much this season, as there was Lillard and a bunch of question marks at the other four starting positions. But, McCollum — who averaged just 6.8 points and 15.7 minutes in 2014-15, his second NBA season — has turned into a dominant scorer and has the inside track to being the Comeback Player of the Year. The Lehigh product, drafted 10th overall by Portland in 2013, is scoring nearly 21 points per contest, and Lillard have both become incredible play-makers and are extremely difficult to defend.
Of course, Lillard ended up in Portland via the Nets, who traded the 1st round pick the Trail Blazers used on him for Gerald Wallace in 2012. You can tell how that trade turned out for Brooklyn.
Also, this past June, the Nets sent Mason Plumlee (and the draft rights of Pat Connaughton) to Portland for the rights to the injured Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Steve Blake, who is now in Detroit. Plumlee, who was the 22nd overall pick in the 2013 Draft by the Nets, has been playing over 25 minutes a game for the Trail Blazers and continues to improve in just his third NBA season.
Probable lineups
BKN- Donald Sloan (PG), Wayne Ellington (SG), Joe Johnson (SF), Thaddeus Young (PF), Brook Lopez (C)
POR- Damian Lillard (PG), C.J. McCollum (SG), Al-Farouq Aminu (SF), Noah Vonleh (PF), Mason Plumlee (C)
Final thoughts
The Trail Blazers have won five games in a row and are currently the No. 7 in the West. They’re one of the league’s hotter teams and have scored 112 or more points in each of their last four games. That doesn’t bode well for the Nets, who — in all likelihood — won’t be able to hang with Portland in a shootout and are severely lacking the backcourt athleticism to stick with Lillard and McCollum. If Brooklyn can keep this one relatively low-scoring, the Nets have a shot but if not, this will probably be a second-straight loss.
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