Game 64 Preview: Trail Blazers versus Heat

Good luck with your job next year writing for free for Miami. Your a complete joke to seriously post this preview.

that this is the wrong time to catch this team with two of the top 3 players in the nba sore, focused, and needing a win.

There’s never a “good” time to play the Miami Heat… Regardless of their struggles they are still a very good team capable of handily defeating anyone in the league. That said, I’ll take my chances with any team on a four-game losing streak, as opposed to one on a four-game winning streak, any day of the week.

Streaks of any length in either direction (winning or losing) happen because of momentum, upward OR downward; positive OR negative. A team like Miami should not be expected to lose THREE games in a row, let alone four, but NO team is immune to having its confidence shaken by a string of losses, not even Miami.

Winning builds confidence, especially in a team that’s expected to win anyway. Losing shakes it up. Will the Blazers win tomorrow? Will they even play a competitive game? I can’t answer that, but I have no reason to believe our chances for success will be HURT by the fact that the Heat have lost four straight games.

Miami needs a win more than ever, and considering they are playing at home. I find it hard to believe that Blazers can match their offense.

That said however we did take them to overtime in Portland, but that was in Portland.

Probably the most accurate, too.

LMA coming off a game in which he should have scored 42, but only scored 24, and did almost no rebounding. (When you are 7 feet tall, you should be able to get 7-8 rpg by accident!) He just hasn’t seemed like the same aggressive, confident LMA 2.0 since Roy & Camby came back and Wallace arrived.

Will Roy play? Has he been officially cleared to play in back-to-backs? If he does, who will he guard? D-Wade? Seriously?

Maybe Wallace and Batum can help to slow down Lebron, but nobody stops him.

Miller might have a good night, as that is the one position where it appears the Blazers have an advantage.

Some games, Portland plays very tough against good opponents. Other times, they play like they’ve already conceded the game. No one would blame them if they choose the latter.

I’ll be watching this game through one eye, half afraid to look, half eager to see how Portland matches up.

Their confidence has to be shaken. That’s why Portland needs to keep it tight until late and grab the lead late and steal the win. Portland being on the road won’t ever have a big lead but just needs to keep it tight and Miami will blow it. Miami has struggled to finish games, if it’s tight and they have to execute to beat the Blazers, I like Portland’s chances. Miami will have it in the back of their mind that they can’t finish and will play tentatively and nervous.

Obviously Portland has a huge advantage at PF and has to use it a ton. Chris Bosh cannot play LaMarcus Aldridge one on one. LaMarcus will abuse him every single time, just as he would abuse any Heat post defender. He’s too athletic, quick and just plain too good for the Heat to handle. They need to get him the ball often, he will able to get guys like Roy, Miller, Fernandez, Wallace, Batum and Matthews wide open looks at threes or shots deep in the paint when they cut to the basket, once the Heat are forced to double team LaMarcus.

Gerald Wallace will help make things tougher on LeBron and will definitely help the Blazers defend him much better. Gerald and LeBron have had some great battles the last couple years and he makes LeBron make tough shots. If the Blazers make sure LeBron and Wade don’t get many easy baskets in transition and make them make tough shots, you gotta love Portland’s chances. The reason Miami has been losing is they haven’t been given transition opportunities in the second half. Portland has to bring the game to grind it out, physical ball game. Miami doesn’t like playing like that.

If Portland can slow down Miami and make them play a grind it out performance and can shoot say 45% or so from three, they will win the game. This is a game where Miami comes in struggling, Portland can take this game if they want it bad enough. They will show how badly they want it.

it seems like it should be a bad loss as it is practically a must win for the heat.

but then again, that’s why they play the games. if the blazers keep it tight till the end, it could be an opportunity to kick them while they’re down.

my head says that dave is right, but my heart says that the heat could have something else to cry about tonight.

he will make lebron cry.

You’re just upset it’s not a home game so you could ask LeBron to marry you.

Night o change the starting lineup. Batum is no match for lebrons size so wallace should get the start tonight and keep starting.

You’re probably right.

On the other hand, maybe the Blazers have them right where they want them.

and I’m assuming its a joke. The heat can be beaten (say the last 4 teams they have played). Fans believe in their teams, and I’m a fan. Go Blazers! I’ll be huddled next to the radio rooting for you. With tissues if necessary.

And I mean both the preview and the reactions :)

Very nice summary of the key flaws on this Blazer team. If there was any one team to expose those flaws – Miami would be it.

Portland doesn’t exploit mismatches, and allows mismatches to be created against it – and does absolutely nothing particularly well.

The one thing the Blazers need to make it all better has been glaringly absent – good three point shooting. That is the one skill the Blazers could ‘magically’ harness for one game to burn the Heat.

If the Blazers had any pick and roll skill whatsoever (other than Rudy/LMA) – they might have more than one chance to be competitive.

I bet we actually do jump out to a first half lead, but then blow it in the third, and then it’s a classic “can’t get over the hump” game the rest of the way.

I’d like our chances better if LMA 2.0 would come back. I miss him.

I have a feeling that might be a hotly debated subject all by itself. I would nominate Roy and … and … hmm… Wallace??

Roy is the only player on this team that has excelled as a warrior in the playoffs – and in spite of his gimp, still seems like the one guy that would welcome the challenge. LMA might be there this season. Miller is a tough guy – but resilience is about performance under pressure – not forearms in the back.

Based on recent comments – I think Blazer management would nominate Mathews and Wallace. I dunno – maybe.

That’s showing a bit too much emotion and hilarity for a conversation involving the personalityless D. Wade.

I don’t have high expectations for this game. There’s too much in Miami’s favor right now, especially considering what’s happened in the past week. They have superstars, they’re at home, and they’re embarrassed. Even granting them a few gimmes from the refs (hate to say it, but you expect that when you play LeBron OR Wade, right?), the Blazers are talented enough to beat anybody in the league on a good night…they just aren’t that good THIS year. That could change rapidly, now that they’re mostly healthy and Brandon is getting his legs back, but you gotta play the numbers on this one.

The team that’s played mostly great basketball all year is more likely to break a four game slump than the middling team that has not shot the ball well in weeks is to suddenly get hot on the road.

I’ve heard some media talk about how Spoelstra stating that some of the guys were “crying in the locker room” was throwing those guys under the bus, and that he has since backtracked somewhat on those statements, saying instead that they were glassy eyed…

So if there is a chance that the Miami players actually want Riley to coach them to post-season success, would this be the point where they get offended that Spoelstra told the media they were crying and tune him out? Would they underperform even if just for another game or two to get him fired?

I’m not sure. I mostly agree with the fact that Portland has VERY little chance to win this game. But as others have stated, there’s a reason why the play the games instead of just looking on paper to see who should win. I’m curious to see if there is any breakdown in cooperation between players and coach for this Heat team. And to see if some of the tougher Blazers can get inside the currently fragile minds of the Heat players.

And the rest of the Heat will follow their example. There are several reasons we can win tonight…a Heat mutiny is not one of them.

I have been reading articles from this site everyday for years but never comment because I just like to read what other people think. But come on this is ridiculous. Is anyone else sick of Dave and his negative news posts (which most of them are)? I come to BE to read an insight on the Blazers and Basketball, not a made up conversation between two players or a comparison between a Trans Am and a Lambo. Joke or no joke, this is supposed to be “The ultimate coverage and analysis of the Portland Trail Blazers.”

Hopefully a real Preview is released today.

Miami has been tumbling lately but they’ve had time to rest and re-focus. Blazers are coming off a back-to-back that was made worse than it should have been by missed wide open 3s.

If the Blazers somehow pull this off tonight it will say much about our team. If they don’t there’s no reason to hold it against them.

I’d tend to agree. Lebron has been crushing us for years. Dave is spot-on when he says these guys aren’t afraid of the Blazers. Over the season, it seems like the Heat tighten up and run lousy plays in the last couple minutes (I also think they’ve been statistically unlucky). This does NOT appear to be true against the Blazers – remember last game? The only impressive fourth-quarter effort I can remember this season from the Heat.

Second night of a back to back against a really good team who desperately needs a win. Were I a betting man I’d have the Heat big.

There’s another way of looking at this. The Blazers have nothing to lose, and the Heat are in serious danger of falling apart in the last quarter of their season. All the pressure falls on the Heat.

It’s true, almost every player on the Blazers seems to brighten up at the prospect of beating an elite team. Even during the worst slump of this season, they nearly beat the Celtics in the Garden.

If the Blazers get torched, they get to shrug their shoulders and still coast to a two and two road trip (assuming they beat a D-League team in Charlotte).

Hoping for a win in the face of overwhelming odds is the heart of being a Blazer fan. It’s what keeps us watching. Even the ESPN AccuScore gives us a 22% chance! That’s like a…. 22% chance or something!

Really liked the matchup fallacy. Well, we’re better at PF and PG so…… Yeah, doesn’t work like that. Still, its not crazy to think we could shoot the lights out, I just doubt it.

got his hands on Dave’s login info.

Oddsmakers put Miami at a 8-8.5 point favorite.

Personally, I think the Blazers actually have a slight edge in this game.

We’ll see.

“Blazers are coming off a back-to-back that was made worse than it should have been by missed wide open 3s.”

Now they have it out of their system. Expect Rudy, Patty, Nick, and Wesley to light it up.

Now that the blazers have depth, this is really going to be a classic test.

Which is better, a team of 3 superstars plus retirees and D-leaguers.

Or a team chock full of players with average NBA talent.

in hindsight, this was an awful preview. But if you were going for reverse jinx, more power to you.

after the fact rec!