NBA Basketball Matchup: Heat vs Trailblazers
The Miami Heat finished the first half of the season on a nine-game winning streak. Not only were the Heat winning those games, they were blowing everyone out of the water.
The Miami Heat finished the first half of the season on a nine-game winning streak. Not only were the Heat winning those games, they were blowing everyone out of the water.
After a nice comeback win in Philadelphia last night, the Oklahoma City Thunder own the best record in the NBA at 28-7.
Two straight weeks Jeremy Lin has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Linsanity has hit the NBA in a big way!
The Lakers had been lacking a signature win in the first half of the year until last night.
The Portland Trail Blazers will be playing their final game of three consecutive games in three nights, aiming to end their three-game home losing streak, returning from Golden State to host the Los Angeles Clippers for the second time this season at the Rose Garden on Thursday night.
Derrick Rose hasn’t played for a little over a week, and he is expected to miss this game as well.
8:00 PM EST on TNT
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Still, the Celtics will have a difficult game against the Bulls in Chicago. Kevin Garnett missed last night’s game for the Celtics, and he is questionable for this one. These teams have split their last six meetings with each other. Boston beat the Bulls 95-91 on Sunday, so Chicago will be looking for revenge in this one.
Boston has benefited nicely from the return of point guard Rajon Rondo. Rondo is arguably the team’s best player at this point, and he is the facilitator for the offense. Rondo averages 9.8 assists per game. Paul Pierce leads the Celtics in scoring at 17.8 per contest. Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Kevin Garnett all average about 14 points per game. Brandon Bass is out until the end of the month, and that is a significant loss for the Celtics in the paint. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Boston has been winning with defense of late. Last night’s loss to Detroit was unexplainable, and Boston will have to play much better if they expect to win this one on the road.
The Bulls miss Derrick Rose in a big way, but this is still a decent team without Rose. Luol Deng put up 23 points Tuesday against Sacramento, and he seems to be fully healthy once again.
Chicago has no shortage of quality big men with Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer, Taj Gibson, and Omer Asik. Kyle Korver and C.J. Watson are both shooting it very well from deep this year for the Bulls, but it is much more difficult for them to get open looks without Rose in the lineup.
The Bulls are one of the best rebounding teams in the league, and they will need to control the glass to win this game.
The Bulls are 10-1 at home, and the Celtics are notoriously bad on the back end of a back-to-back. I think Chicago will dominate in the paint and win this one.
Prediction: Chicago 91 Boston 87
Minnesota actually got above .500 for a brief time a few days ago, but the Timberwolves have lost three straight since.
The Lakers have struggled through the first part of this season, but last night’s win in Boston was their single best victory of the year.
The best rivalry in the NBA will headline TNT’s Thursday night NBA action this week. Both of these teams have had their struggles this year, but both are still considered contenders for the title.
Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder have pulled out two straight come from behind wins on the West Coast.
Madison Square Garden will host the disappointing Knicks against the Chicago Bulls Thursday night. New York is just 2-8 in their last ten games.
Denver is coming off a heartbreaking loss against Memphis on Tuesday night. The Nuggets led all game, only to blow it at the end of regulation and then lose in overtime.
If there was ever a good spot for some revenge this is it. Orlando was beaten 87-56 earlier this week by the Celtics.
Memphis had a seven-game winning streak snapped Tuesday night in Portland, but this is still a Grizzlies team that is playing with a ton of confidence. The Clippers got Chris Paul back from an injury in their last game against the Lakers, but they fell 96-91 in a hard fought game.
It is the matchup that many expected in the NBA Finals last year, but it never materialized.
Not much was expected of the Utah Jazz coming into this year, but they are 9-4 and right in the middle of the hunt in the Western Conference.