GT: Nets @ Trail Blazers | Friday, 11/08/19 | 10:00 PM EST |

[ducler]

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[ecuhus1981]

The beginning of our 5-game, 9-day road trip may portend good or bad about the trip overall. For context, we’re coming off of a nervy win over a depleted Pelicans squad, followed by 4 days of rest. Hopefully in this time, we do a deep-dive on our turnover, FT shooting and defensive woes. The Blazers are stinging from a cringe-y loss to the unrecognizable Warriors*, and another tough L @ LAC Thursday before hosting us Friday. Incidentally, both teams saw a rotation bigman felled by injury recently. DJ is day-to-day after an ankle sprain, while Zach Collins is out for the next 4 months due to a shoulder injury. Portland fans were already concerned by the loss of Nurkic and a rocky start, and the Western Conference is looking even tougher than we expected. They will be hungry for a win, and so will we. Road wins are hen’s teeth, and after POR we face a hot, young PHX squad, contenders UTA and DEN, then wrap up with CHI. Going 2-3 over this stretch would at least keep us close to .500, and the best chances of snatching W’s are at the beginning and end of this swing. Let’s get into it:

JARRETT ALLEN VS. HASSAN WHITESIDE – On the surface, this is exactly the type of matchup that we dread for our young C. Hassan is bigger, stronger and longer, with a versatile low-post game and shot-erasing skills on the other end. Fortunately, Whiteside is not a C that typically shoot 3’s, our Achilles heel defensively. He also has a penchant for foul trouble. If our slashers can bait him into early hacks, we may neutralize him. OTOH, if he uncharacteristically rips off 4 treys, we might as well cancel Christmas. JA won’t have to do much other than contain and survive the matchup.

TAUREAN PRINCE VS. NASSIR LITTLE (?) – As I mentioned, their starting PF Collins is out for the next 4 months. They don’t really have a great backup for the position, and the rookie / former Tarheel has played uptempo 4 before. One-time Net Anthony Tolliver (who started THU) or Skal Labissiere may get the nod, but my guess is that they go small against us. Whoever the matchup happens to be, Prince should own a clear advantage, and take the game to them.

JOE HARRIS VS. RODNEY HOOD – The mercurial lefty from Duke is an all-or-nothing weapon. Some games, he’s blazing hot (get it?). Other times, he can produce a goose-egg stat line despite heavy minutes. The difference IMO is ball denial and physical defense. He hates that, but sadly, Joe doesn’t possess those traits. They will trade buckets, hopefully Harris will outduel his opponent.

CARIS LEVERT VS. CJ MCCOLLUM – I’m concerned. CLV, for all of his positive qualities, has been pretty awful at fighting through screens thus far. CJ can fill it up in a number of ways, but I expect the Blazers to exploit this weakness. If Caris can put pressure on McCollum offensively in the post with his size/strength/length advantage, they may be able to mitigate this weakness. Otherwise, I see CJ dropping 40, and LeVert riding the bench in the 4th.

KYRIE IRVING VS. DAMIAN LILLARD – Another high-powered PG matchup, I think that Kyrie is eager to show he’s a notch above his peer. Will his supporting cast fall in line behind him, as DameTime’s troops have done so willingly for their general?

Portland’s bench is full of castoffs and low-caliber projects, but they have some scoring ability. If our 2nd unit doesn’t work through one another and get good shots, this matchup could be a noose around our starters’ necks. Optimistically, I believe they will.

Kenny just needs to prepare us correctly, and keep us focused. If something goes well, keep doing it. If it doesn’t, have a backup in mind. And then a backup to the backup. The modern NBA is all about little in-game adjustments. As progressive as we are long-term, we’re pretty stubborn about change when we see adversity in the moment. The saying goes: insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. Half-time tweaks and wrinkles mean the difference between and L and a W, and frankly, I’m not certain Atkinson is comfortable making them.

PREDICTION: NETS 134, BLAZERS 139 (OT)

[MrDollarBills]

If we can take care of the ball and convert at the stripe I think we've got a good chance vs these guys

[3pt_chucker]

Last time we played a team on the 2nd half of a back to back, we layed an egg. At least this time we are coming in off 3 days rest.

Need to start fast and put pressure on these guys, especially since their 2 best players played heavy mins yesterday.

[Paradise]

Please take care of the ball and contest threes.

Oh and Whiteside got roasted by Charles Barkley so we’ll see if he’s motivated tonight. Jarrett could get destroyed on the boards if he is.

Let’s go get this win, though.

[Stone]

whoa.........J went flying. I got to count how many times he hits the floor tonight

[MrDollarBills]

Love the aggression from Allen.

Great defense by LeVert

[kamaze]

whoa.........J went flying. I got to count how many times he hits the floor tonight

Players foul the hell out of him.

[kamaze]

Joe Hustle

[MrDollarBills]

Allen is playing really well right now

[kamaze]

Sarah Kustok is so long winded

[3pt_chucker]

Caris has been super aggressive this season at attacking mismatch switches He's missed some layups but I love the mindset.

[MrDollarBills]

I'm going to be honest I think we are better than these guys. Nets have to prove it

Beautiful cut by LeVert

[kamaze]

Nice cut and pass

[3pt_chucker]

Great pocket pass by Allen, who is playing really well.

[3pt_chucker]

Missing shots but some really nice looks to start. Loving the energy/hustle on both ends though.

[MrDollarBills]

Great pocket pass by Allen, who is playing really well.

I love the activity.

I really like how we match up here.

[MrDollarBills]

We need to watch Anfernee Simons. He can flat out ball

[DarkXaero]

Allen has really improved on the glass. Still doesn't have enough strength but his activity level and timing is there now.

[MrDollarBills]

Allen has upped his level of play.