Sched Ahead Daily Update, Games of 3/6

San Antonio gets the big win in Memphis, but loses Tony Parker, Channing Frye works on his enforcer image, and the Blazers get little help around the league.

Yesterday's update.

Most recent weekly update, including game category definitions.

Yesterday's Games

An uninspiring set of results, for Blazer fans. 

1. Dallas @ Chicago.  Eleven straight for Dallas, four straight losses for the Bulls, who are desperately missing Joakim Noah.  Dirk had 27, Beaubois and Butler had 24, Marion had 18, and Kidd had 15 assists and 11 rebounds, as the Mavs built a lead, then held off a late rally.  Dallas was without Haywood, as well as Dampier and Terry.  Derrick Rose had 34 points (on 15-22 shooting) and eight assists.  Dallas shot 56% for the game, Chicago 52%.
2. Houston @ Minnesota.  Kevin Martin scored 30, Scola had 25 with 21 rebounds, and Brooks had 25 with 9 assists, and Houston had an 18-1 run in the first half and a 9-0 run to end the third to put the game away.  Al Jefferson, who had a 26/26 night against the Rockets earlier this year, was suspended.  Love had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Minnesota, who have lost five straight.  Houston was 11-26 on 3s, but only attempted 9 free throws, making them all.
3. S.A. @ Memphis.  This was the big game of the night, and the Spurs won it, but at great cost as Tony Parker broke his hand, and is reportedly out for six weeks.  Jefferson had 18, and Duncan and Ginobili had 17 each, and the Spurs had six in double figures again (while Parker and Mason both had 8 points), and held the Griz to 43% shooting.  This was the eighth straight home loss for Memphis, while they've won six straight on the road, which is apparently the first time in NBA history that a team has had concurrent home losing streaks and road winning streaks of six games or more.  Mayo had 23 points for Memphis, and Gasol had 17 and 13 rebounds, but the only other two players to hit double figures for the Grizzlies gunned their way there, with Zach (4-12) getting 15 and Gay (5-15) with 13.  Memphis only had 13 assists.
4. Indiana @ Phoenix.  Phoenix is good.  Indiana is bad.  The end.  Oh, except there were two fights, both of which involved former Blazers, as McBob got into it with Amundson, and then Channing got himself ejected after a fight that involved Granger, J-Rich, Hibbert, and Watson (all but Watson got Ts).  The Suns don't play until Friday, which will help since their backup PGs are both injured. 
5. Clippers @ Utah.  The Jazz shook off a slow start to blow out the Clips.  Okur had 27 points and Boozer had 17 and 17 rebounds.  Drew Gooden had 20 points and 12 rebounds.  Travis got a start for the Clippers and scored 8 on 3-11 shooting (2-4 on 3s) with six rebounds in 25 minutes.

An emphatic "meh".

Projections

1. L.A.  59.3 wins.   
2. Dallas.  55.7 wins (up from 55.1).
3. Denver.  53.5 wins.
4. Utah.  52.3 wins (up from 51.9).
5. Phoenix.  50.5 wins (up from 50.4).  
6. OKC.  49.8 wins.
7. Portland.  47.9 wins.
8. S.A.  47.7 wins (up from 46.6).
9. Houston.  42.3 wins (up from 41.7 in 10th).
10. Memphis.  41.6 wins (down from 42.2 in 9th).
11. N.O.  40.6 wins.

Memphis is 4 1/2 games behind us, 5 1/2 behind San Antonio, and has now lost the tie-breaker against both teams.  It is really only Houston that is left with a chance to crack the top eight.  San Antonio, meanwhile, moves a game ahead of us in the standings, and very close behind us in the projections.  Whether they can maintain that without Parker seems doubtful, but their lead over Houston is large enough that their playoff spot is probably safe, especially since Richard Jefferson seems to finally be finding his place with them.  The Rockets play in San Antonio one more time, and a win would give them the tie-breaker over the Spurs, but they had better start winning everything if they want a chance.

Tonight

1. Portland @ Denver.  A Cat 4 "Rocky Road", one of the tougher games of the season.  A win would turn this good week into a great one, put more pressure on the teams just ahead of us, and signal that we might really be a dangerous team in the playoffs, at least to put a scare into teams if not beat them.  A big game for Denver, too, as they try to hold off Dallas and Utah for the second seed.  With their injury troubles, they are only a few bad games from dropping to fourth or possibly even fifth.  Kenyon Martin apparently is out (and may need surgery), Ty Lawson is apparently out (and may be for a game or two more), and Chris Anderson is struggling with tendinitis which isn't expected to go away until he can get extended rest (off-season).  Marcus, who is suffering from the Portland Center Curse, is questionable.
2. L.A. @ Orlando.  A Cat 4 "Rocky Road" for the L@kers, who have lost two straight.  A rematch of last year's Finals.  Orlando had some struggles earlier but seems to be coming together and looking like a contender again.
3. Houston @ Detroit.  A back to back Cat 3 "Banana Peel" for the Rockets.  It will be interesting to see how Detroit responds to the Stuckey situation.  Kyle Lowry and Trevor Ariza are still out for Houston, and back to backs are harder when you are short-handed.  Four of Houston's starters played 38 or more minutes last night (Scola played 44 and Brooks 42).  Houston should win, but keep an eye on this one.
4. OKC @ Sacramento.  The Kings have been playing well, and put a scare into the "Blunder" in OKC a few games ago, before winning in Houston and battling Dallas down to the wire.  This really is a "Banana Peel" for OKC, who will very much be hoping that we lose and they win to open some space in the seedings battle.

A big game for us, and a couple of tricky Banana Peel away games for a couple of our rivals.  If we can find a way to steal at least one of our two games in Denver, it can really help our playoff positioning, as well as be a confidence boost as we head into the playoffs -- it will reinforce that we can beat elite teams on the road.  Make no mistake, though, this one will be very tough even if Marcus is ok.  The Nugs have only lost 5 games at home all year, and they aren't planning on giving us #6.