Game Time: 6:00 p.m. (Note that this is a change from the original schedule.) TV: KGW
Egad, didn't we just play the Jazz? And didn't they just wipe the floor with us? Oh yeah, this is one of those NBA "three games in three weeks" scheduling tricks. It's too bad it's now and against Utah.
If you'd like a complete preview of what the Jazz have been doing you can check out this one, penned right before last week's game. Here's your update: Utah has won two more games since they beat us, defeating both the Kings and the Mavericks handily at home behind monster games from Paul Millsap in the absence of Carlos Boozer, who has an ongoing calf injury. That makes 10 out of their last 11 that they've won. They're on one heck of a roll and it's hard to imagine Portland derailing them. But as we know from Dallas, you never say never. Fernandez could get hot, Batum could get nasty, Miller could match D. Williams' scoring and Lamarcus Aldridge match Carlos Boozer's Paul Millsap's. Bayless could turn into B-Rex, Pendergraph could draw two techs on Millsap or Kirilenko, Cunningham could turn into a beast. It could happen. The likely outcome is another Utah victory though. Basically the Blazers want to play with enough guts and energy that they rattle the Jazz and give themselves a chance to win late. Unless it's a sparkling game they're going to lose, though.
See whether anyone in Utah is taking us seriously at SLCDunk.
Enter tonight's Jersey Contest form here.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)