When: 7:00 PM EST; Monday, April 6th, 2015
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES
While most of the country either watches MLB’s Opening Day or the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, a small pocket of New York and Oregon will be watching basketball. Thanks to a snowstorm back in January (the 26th, to be exact), Nets-Blazers at Barclays (along with a Knicks-Kings tilt at MSG) was postponed a few months to tonight, leading to the odd scheduling.
This means the Blazers, who beat the Pelicans in Portland on Saturday, have to make two cross-country flights in just four days, as they host the Timberwolves on Wednesday. Consequently, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum and Chris Kaman are all out for Terry Stotts’ team presumably for resting purposes. None of three have made the trip east and are staying in Portland.
The Nets, meanwhile, don’t have Alan Anderson (ankle) but other than that, are pretty healthy and have the luxury of playing at home. With the Celtics’ buzzer-beating win over the Raptors on Saturday, Brooklyn’s cushion in the No. 7 spot in the East is down to just a half-game–yet again–while the Pacers and Heat toil 1.5 back as the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds respectively. With no other teams playing tonight, the Nets can gain some needed ground.
Probable Lineups
POR- Damian Lillard (PG), Arron Afflalo (SG), C.J. McCollum (SF), Meyers Leonard (PF), Robin Lopez (C)
BKN- Deron Williams (PG), Markel Brown (SG), Joe Johnson (SF), Thaddeus Young (PF), Brook Lopez (C)
Final Thoughts
With Kaman out, Robin Lopez is freed to start for Portland, meaning he and his twin brother–less than a week after their shared birthday–will square off from the tip. As we know, those two can be pretty interesting on a basketball court on their own, but when together, it’s pure entertainment.
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