Game 3 Preview
PORTLAND - With a handful of injuries and their top scorers shooting poorly, the Portland Trail Blazers are hoping the raucous crowd at Moda Center can provide a spark.
Returning home with an 0-2 deficit in their first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Blazers look to avoid being pushed to the brink Saturday night.
Portland failed to earn homecourt advantage for this series despite winning the Northwest Division, and Memphis quickly showed why it was one of the NBA's best home teams this season (31-10) with victories of 14 and 15 points in the first two games.
The Blazers also boasted one of the league's best home marks, going 32-9 at Moda Center - considered one of the loudest arenas in basketball - but they've dropped five of the last six meetings with the Grizzlies in Portland, including both this season.
Those two losses were part of a four-game season sweep by Memphis, which has now lost only once in its last 12 against Portland. The Grizzlies have limited the Blazers to 29.7 percent shooting from 3-point range in that span and won by double digits seven times.
INJURY REPORT
Portland: Chris Kaman (L ankle sprain) is questionable. Arron Afflalo (R shoulder strain) is probable. Wesley Matthews (L achilles) is out. Dorell Wright (L hand) is out.
Memphis: Beno Udrih (right ankle sprain) is questionable.
Participation Status Key:
- Probable – 75% chance that the player will play in the game
- Questionable – 50% chance that the player will play in the game
- Doubtful – 25% chance that the player will play in the game
- Out – Player will not play in the game
Projected Starters
SF
PF
C
SG
PG
Head-to-Head
Playoff Series Games
Playoff Series Notes
- This is the first-ever meeting between the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies in the NBA Playoffs. Memphis was one of five Western Conference teams that Portland has never matched up against in the postseason.
- In playing Memphis in the first round, Portland will embark upon its fourth consecutive playoff matchup against a team from the Southwest Division.
- Memphis swept Portland in the 2014-15 regular season (four games). The last team to win a first round playoff series after being swept by that team in the regular season was the Hornets against the Hawks in the 1998 NBA Playoffs. Atlanta swept the regular season series, 4-0, before Charlotte took the postseason series three games to one.
- Memphis has served as the fifth seeded playoff team twice before prior to its 4/5 matchup with Portland. The Grizzlies were swept as the fifth seeded team by the Dallas Mavericks in 2005-06, but more recently advanced past the L.A. Clippers (4-2) and Oklahoma City (4-1) to reach the Western Conference finals as the five-seed in 2012-13.
Season Series Games
Season Series Notes
- Memphis won all four regular season contests between these two teams in 2014-15, marking the first time that the Grizzlies have ever swept the Trail Blazers in a season series.
- The Trail Blazers utilized three different starting lineups (eight starters overall) in four regular season games against Memphis.
- Portland is 2-9 against the Grizzlies dating back to the start of the 2012-13 season.
- In four games against the Grizzlies this season, Damian Lillard averaged 22.0 points on 40.3% shooting (31-77 FG). Lillard dished out 7.2 assists in the four regular season matchups.
- LaMarcus Aldridge averaged a team-high 22.3 points per game against the Grizzlies in the regular season (three games). In his past seven games against Memphis, Aldridge has produced 24.1 points. He has also shot at least 50.0% from the fl oor in three of the past four matchups.
- LaMarcus Aldridge has scored 10+ points in 25 consecutive games against the Grizzlies. He has scored 20 or more points in 10 of those 25 contests.
- Portland’s reserves outscored Memphis’s bench, 96-87, in four regular season games in 2014-15. In the two most recent contests on Feb. 22 and March 21, Portland’s bench accumulated a +34 scoring advantage (63-29) over the Grizzlies’ reserves.
- Memphis limited Portland to an average of 93.8 points per game, while keeping them under the 100-point mark in all four contests.
- Chris Kaman hauled in an average of 10.3 rebounds in three games (one start) against Memphis in 2014-15. He recorded 16 points (matches his season-high) and 11 rebounds against Memphis earlier this season on Nov. 28 to earn one of his four double-doubles.
- Memphis out rebounded Portland in three of the four games this season and finished with a +10 rebound advantage. Portland finished the season ranked second in the NBA in rebounding (45.85 reb/game), while Memphis ended up 21st in the NBA with 42.56 rebounds per contest.
- At 35-17, Memphis was third in the Western Conference for most in-conference wins. Portland was 31-21 against Western Conference foes.
- Memphis forward Zach Randolph averaged 16.5 points on 43.8% shooting in four games against Portland this season. He registered two double-doubles,both of which came in the first two games.
- In the final regular season game between these two teams on March 21, Mike Conley and Jeff Green combined to score 40 points on 14-of-20 shooting (8-9 3-PT). Both LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum exited the game early due to injuries and did not participate in the second half.