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NBA on TNT & NBA TV analyst and former Portland Trail Blazers guard Greg Anthony joined the Blazers Edge podcast to preview the upcoming series between the Blazers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Anthony breaks down the match up between Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook, describes the team as still pretty “formidable” even without Jusuf Nurkic, and thinks they have a shot at winning the series. He also talks about what it is like as a player to prepare for the playoffs and gives what he thinks are they keys to defeating the Thunder.
Then Tara and Dan go into more detail on their thoughts on the upcoming series. Are the Blazers better than they were last year at this time? What can the Blazers do to slow down Paul George? Is there any advantage to Enes Kanter’s insider knowledge of the Thunder? How will CJ McCollum look coming off of his injury? Will Collins get under Westbrook’s skin? Tara didn’t want to see the Jazz anyway—let’s get this series started!
Highlights
1:30 Dan takes a moment to talk about Anfernee Simons
4:00 Talking to Greg Anthony, TNT & NBA TV analyst
4:30 Thoughts on head-to-head matchup between Damian Lillard and Russell Westbrook.
5:40 What is preparing for the playoffs like compared to preparing for the regular season?
8:15 In the playoffs, the team with the most talent usually wins.
9:00 What will the Blazers have to do to win out? Take care of the basketball, make everything hard for the young guys, make 3-point shots, don’t let Westbrook live in the paint.
12:15 Which role players does Anthony think will be the X-factors in the playoffs? Jerami Grant and Al-Farouq Aminu.
13:15 Jusuf Nurkic was in the conversation as one of the best centers in the league when he went down.
14:45 Dan thinks Lillard and Westbrook might cancel each other out.
16:15 How can the Blazers slow down Paul George?
18:00 Blazers vs Thunder is a more exciting series according to Tara. Also according to Tara, the Blazers are in a better place right now than they were this time last year.
20:30 OKC is not as good as the Jazz in the pick and roll.
22:45 Will there be any advantage to be gleaned by Enes Kanter knowing the Thunder players?
25:30 How does CJ McCollum look after a few games back?
29:45 Can the Blazers control the pace of the game?
31:45 Looking at the bench vs bench match up. How much will they actually play against each other?
35:30 What will Zach Collins and Jake Layman’s roles be in the playoffs? Could Collins’ intangibles be really important?
40:00 Will the Blazers aim to slow down Paul George or to take away everyone else?
45:00 Programming notes: with the playoffs coming, the podcast schedule is going to be a little wacky. More WHAT podcast content is coming too. Make sure you don’t miss anything by subscribing on iTunes.