Trail Blazers vs Celtics Friday, 11/30/12 AT 04:30PM

News From Around The World: November 29

11/29/12

Written by: DHawes22 / avg. rating: 5.0

November 29

Trail Blazers TV: Blazer Brotherhood

Trail Blazers TV: Trail Blazers Vs. Wizards Highlights

Trail Blazers TV: JJ Throws It Down

ESPN: Rookie Watch: November's best
"Through 14 games, Lillard also has made 53 percent of his shots from 16-23 feet, making him one of the top midrange shooters this season. For comparison's sake, look at what some other point guards who were top-five draft picks did from that distance in their rookie seasons: Derrick Rose made 43 percent, Russell Westbrook 38 percent, Tyreke Evans 32 percent and John Wall 30 percent. And, for good measure, here's what Portland's last All-Star guard, Brandon Roy, shot from this range in his best season, 2008-09: 43 percent."

CSNNW: Blazers embarrassed as they hand Wizards their first win
“We have to believe that we're the team that beat the Lakers in our place and we have to believe that we're the team that beat Houston in two overtimes,” Matthews said. “We got to believe that every single night and we have to approach it that way.”

Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard Doesn't Care For Historical Statues
"In Vegas I was at a wax museum for the first time -- I went to Vegas for my birthday when I turned -- and then I went in and saw all the actors and singers and everything and it was cool. They had like all the actors in one room, then they'll have all the rappers and everything was separated. Then they had athletes and I was going through and then they had the last room in there was like Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, all these like big time historic people. They looked just like them, same size. And they just had that music, that "da-dun-nun-na-nun" like that music playing in the room kinda set the mood. It just threw me off. Ever since then I've been done. Even in Lake Oswego, I drive past a cemetery and there's a statue of Jesus out there with his hands up. That even scares me. So I don't mess with statues no more, man."

Trail Blazers: Blazers Still Winless On Trip
"What happened in Portland's locker room after the game has been reported well. Evidently Wesley Matthews, who is undoubtedly the emotional leader of this season, challenged his teammates in a player-only meeting. Jared Jeffries, who is also outspoken, echoed the point Matthews was trying to get across."

Oregon Live: Celtics' Rajon Rondo will miss game vs. Blazers after NBA suspends him for 2 games
"The NBA announced that it has suspended Rondo for two games for instigating a fight during the Celtics' home loss to Brooklyn on Wednesday. He will miss the Celtics' home game against Portland on Friday and their game at Milwaukee on Saturday."

Oregon Live: Blazers reach crossroads after loss to previously-winless Wizards, prompting Wesley Matthews to challenge team
“In essence, he took the reigns and said, ‘Look, we have to fight for each other, fight for this team and make a stand and prove who we really are,’” rookie center Meyers Leonard said, recalling Matthews’ message. “He said we’ve got to keep battling and decide who we really want to be. When we play up to our potential and play hard, we can compete with anyone in the league. Obviously, when we don’t, we can lose to a team that hadn’t won a game.”

Oregon Live: Wizards 84, Trail Blazers 82: Portland falls to previously winless Washington
"Rookie point guard Damian Lillard, who had been so dynamic and so fun to watch for most of the early season, continued his recent ice-cold shooting on Wednesday night. Lillard, who entered the game having made just 8 of 30 shots in his previous two games, was 6 of 21 from the field against the Wizards. At one point, he was 4 for 18 as his jumper failed him and he could not convert countless contested drives to the basket. He finished with 20 points and five assists. As a team, the Blazers shot 35 percent from the field."

Columbian: Knee Jerk Reactions: Wizards 84, Blazers 82
"The loss ruined a tremendous performance from Hickson. Besides his final shot – which, again, shouldn’t have gone to him in the first place – Hickson kept the Blazers in the game with 15 points and 19 huge rebounds. One of his offensive grabs and follow-up slams came during the 15-0 fourth-quarter run. "

Rip City Project: Game 15 Recap: Blazers 82, Wizards 84
"If the Blazers had played the Wizards to a tie for 40 minutes and then made a run for the last eight minutes, instead of playing behind for 35 minutes and then trying frantically to not lose in the game’s closing 10 minutes, there’s a pretty good chance Portland would have won this game. That’s a very small level of commitment and engagement considering the competition, but it was too much for these Blazers."

Blazersedge: Analysis: Wizards Cast Slow Spell on Blazers, Win First of the Season
"The Blazers weren't without moment. They had two brilliant runs. One came at the outset when the Wizards, apparently having read the scouting report upside-down, allowed Portland shooters plenty of open space to fire. Portland stormed to a 20-9 lead. The Wizards ate away at that lead and ended up reversing it, leading by 15 early in the fourth. Then they tightened up like an ichthyologist asking Jessica Alba for a date. Portland smelled blood in the water and stormed back behind great defense, good rebounding, and sweet shooting to take a small lead. The Wizards countered. Washington ended up ahead by 2 with 39 seconds left and the Blazers' final possessions went brick-turnover-brick. Game over. Washington wins."

Ball Don't Lie: Spurs to sit Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Danny Green against Heat, because Gregg Popovich gives 0 expletives
"This is, of course, a massive bummer for hoops fans who'd been eagerly awaiting a potential Finals matchup between two offensive juggernauts — Miami ranks second in the NBA in offensive efficiency, scoring at a blistering rate of 110.3 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com's stat tool, while San Antonio ranks fourth at 105.9-per-100. With the Spurs sending their top four scorers home — and also playing without injured wings Kawhi Leonard and Stephen Jackson — what had been a hotly anticipated shootout looks poised to turn into a one-sided knife-to-a-gunfight type situation. And with just two games, running consecutively, on the Thursday schedule, there won't even be any early-evening curiosities — "Are the Bobcats actually kind of fun this year? Whoa, how are the Hawks 9-4? Wait ... the Kyle Singler from DUKE?" — to check out as a Plan B if this one turns out to be a stinker. Them's the breaks, NBA fans, and them's the breaks, TNT. (And, it seems, for gamblers — as of 5:40 p.m. ET, Bovada's taken the game off the board.)"

Ball Don't Lie: Sources close to Amar’e Stoudemire claim he would ‘be fine with coming off the bench’
"Of course, the Knicks and Stoudemire have $64 million reasons to be sheepish about turning Stoudemire into a sixth man scorer off of the sidelines. That's how much the team owes their one-time franchise player between now and 2015, the contract is completely uninsured even if Stoudemire has to walk away from the game due to knee troubles, and the embarrassment for Amar'e, coach Woodson, and the front office might be too much to keep him out of the starting lineup."

Ball Don't Lie: Mike D’Antoni: ‘I shouldn’t have gone to New York’ to coach the Knicks
"To be fair to Mike, and history, it wasn't as if D'Antoni left a championship contender in Phoenix. The Suns lost in the first round to San Antonio, the West's longtime immovable object, in 2008. After flailing around with Terry Porter and losing Amar'e Stoudemire to an eye injury in 2008-09, the team missed the playoffs entirely. The team made it to the Western Conference finals in 2010 while rallying one more time around a career year from Stoudemire and Steve Nash's continued brilliance, but Stoudemire left to join D'Antoni in New York just a month later. Nash was traded last July after two frustrating seasons away from the postseason. In actuality, D'Antoni was merely the first to jump ship."

The Basketball Jones: Video: Dwight Howard lost some shooting contests to a hockey mascot
"That’s basically the J.R. Smith of lions, so of course Dwight Howard lost. Not to mention, disrespecting the king of the jungle is pretty much a death wish. Smart move by Dwiggy Dwight to throw these things."

The Basketball Jones: Emeka Okafor saved a falling fan after last night’s Wizards win
"If Emeka Okafor is not this guy’s favorite player immediately, he needs to reevaluate his life. I don’t necessarily know if he would have died from this fall, but he definitely could have been hurt, and there could be nothing more embarrassing than having to tell people you broke your arm celebrating the Washington Wizards going 1-12. Okafor just saved this guy a lifetime of zingers from his friends, which is a pretty steep price to pay for a high-five from an average center."

DIME: The 10 Best NBA Team Rivalries Of All Time
"These two teams had a genuine dislike for each other and that dislike was fueled by the competitive nature of Johnson and Bird. They were also two teams who totally contrasted each other in style of play, style of coaching, and even race. In a time where race was a huge talking point for the younger generation, Magic and Larry were both idolized, and crossed racial lines quite easily."

DIME: The Top 10 Impact NBA Players Most Missed By Injury
"Already an MVP and Chicago legend at the tender age of 24, Rose’s effect on Chicago’s chances simultaneously goes without saying and can’t be overstated enough. Whether he’ll be back at all from an ACL tear is the great unknown. Point guard replacements Kirk Hinrich and Nate Robinson have played as well as had been expected considering they don’t have one major component of what made Rose great: the Bench Mob. Yes, the Bulls’ bench scored 50 points on Wednesday night, but it’s the exception."

SLAM: Post-Up: Streaks Snapped!
"They did it! The Wiz finally did it! Obviously, D.C. didn’t make it easy on themselves, or their fans, and nearly blew this one in the fourth. The Wizards ended the third quarter on a 23-7 run to take a nine-point lead but didn’t score for nearly seven minutes of the fourth quarter. Portland reeled off a 15-0 run and tied the game at 79 with three minutes and change to play and it looked like the Wizards were on the verge of a major meltdown. But Jordan Crawford hit a huge three-pointer to break their scoreless drought and Emeka Okafor followed up with two free throws to make the score 84-82 with 40 seconds to play. Damian Lillard was called for a traveling violation but in true Wizards fashion, they gave the ball back to the Blazers after an offensive foul by Nene. The Blazers had a chance to win or tie but J.J. Hickson’s jumper drew iron and D.C. narrowly escaped with their first win."

SLAM via Boston Herald: Jason Terry Calls Kris Humphries a Fake Tough Guy After Fight
"Jason Terry, who played with Humphries during the 2009-10 season in Dallas, later tore into his former teammate. “That was unnecessary,” Terry said of Humphries’ foul on Garnett. “Some guys are tough and some guys pretend to be. He’s one that pretends to be. Maybe that’s the role Avery (Johnson) wants him to have.”

ESPN: Best and worst of the opening month
"Charlotte Bobcats. I love everything Charlotte has done since last season. The Bobcats hired a coach who specializes in player development, have invested heavily in giving their young players minutes and, as a result of setting realistic (i.e. 'low') expectations, a 7-7 record qualifies as a huge surprise."

Sports Illustrated: Committed Thunder team remains contender -- even without Harden
"Kevin Martin isn't going to replace Harden's myriad skills, but since arriving from Houston, Martin has given OKC 15.8 points off the bench while converting 48.8 percent of his threes. The Thunder would have been hamstrung financially had they retained Harden, forcing the likely departures of important role players like backup point guard Eric Maynor this summer and starting shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha in 2014. They'll continue to face difficult budgetary choices over the next few years, but at least now they'll have some flexibility financially as well as three extra draft choices from the Harden trade to help replenish their rotation with cheap young talent."

Trail Blazers: Weekend Plan: Specially Designed For Families And The Busy Nine-To-Fiver
"Built for the family-oriented fan with a busy work-week, the 12-game Weekend Pack maximizes the thrill-factor while keeping the competitions to Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A smattering of Western Conference rivals and Eastern Conference visitors during one-offs and key home stands, you can get your hands on this schedule-friendly pack for as low as $11/game and $52/game in the lower bowl."

Trail Blazers: The Rivals Plan: Two LAs, Oklahoma City And The Return Of Roy
"The smallest of the four big ticket plans, the eight game Rivals Pack packs a big punch. You’ll be in the building and eating a corndog while others are wondering how to get their hands on a way to see the return of Brandon Roy and the sure to sell out L.A. Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder."

Trail Blazers: Why The Value Plan Makes 'Cents' For You
"The Value Pack starts at just $5 a game. That’s 12 games for as low as $60! Talk about some serious bang for your buck. But that’s not even the best part about this ticket plan. Four of the 12 games take place in the month of January. And there is absolutely no better place to be during an Oregon winter’s night than inside the raucous Rose Garden. Not to mention this pack gets you into the arena to see some of the league’s biggest names and brightest young stars such as Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Kyrie Irving, John Wall, and Rudy Gay."

Trail Blazers: Big Games Plan: 12 Of The Biggest Games
"This game has it all. Season opener, at home, against the loathe-inducing Lakers, in Steve Nash's first game in purple and gold and it's on Halloween night! Any game against the Lakers at the Rose Garden is going to be a lively one, but the confluence of circumstances in this particular game sets the stage for one of the all-time season openers in Trail Blazers history."