Portland comes into tonight’s game in a bit of a schedule-driven funk. They’ve planed 9 of their last eleven games on the road, played last night in San Antonio – and still have to look forward to a stop in Dallas before finally arriving home for a few days. Considering that – and that they’ve had games against GSW, SAS, OKC, BOS and TOR during that stretch, having won 5 of those 11 games is respectable.

The good news for the Blazers is they come into this game essentially healthy, with only Meyers Leonard likely to be out for them. This has been a theme all long for Portland, as they have 10 guys who have played in 60+ games this season.

Luckily the Pels do have a weapon in the holster: Tim Frazier, the Most Exciting And Amazing Basketball Player We’ve Seen. And he’ll be out for revenge against the team that denied him playing time. You know this won’t go well for Portland.

Keys to the Game

• Try to cover the Three point line.  At least a little.  Portland shoots the 4th best rate from three – and the 4th highest number of shots from there.  The Pelicans allow the 3rd highest percentage fro three in the league.  If they don’t try out there, it will get ugly quick.
• Eat glass.  Portland crushes the offensive glass, ranking 5th in the league.  The Pels are 5th in the league on the defensive glass.  With the Blazers able to drill deep shots, they need to limit those killer offensive-rebound-kickout-death three pointers.
• Don’t throw the ball away.  Portland generates almost no steals per game – so the only way this could be one of those ugly high-turnover games for the Pels is if they are making foolish decisions.

Enjoy the game!