Nets at Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard is doing a superb job of carrying Portland during the absence of All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge and will look for his fifth consecutive strong outing when the Trail Blazers host the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. Lillard had 31 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in Tuesday’s victory over the Denver Nuggets and is averaging 30.5 points in the four games Aldridge has missed due to a groin injury. The Nets have won six of their last nine games.
Journeyman Jason Collins plays in his second game as the NBA’s first openly gay player after seeing 11 minutes of action in Brooklyn’s 108-102 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. Guard Shaun Livingston (tailbone) sat out against Los Angeles and was termed a game-time decision for the Portland game by coach Jason Kidd. Portland is 3-1 without Aldridge and center Robin Lopez stepped up in the 100-95 win over Nuggets with a career-best seven blocked shots to go with 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Trail Blazers improved to 18-2 when holding the opponent below 100 points.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), CSN Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE NETS (26-28): Collins is hoping the attention will diminish in coming days as he repeatedly points out there is only so much that be written or discussed about his situation. His Brooklyn teammates would appreciate that as well as many of them have known Collins for a long time and there’s nothing odd to them about having him on the squad. “He’s a basketball player. He’s been doing this for a long time, so that didn’t change,” point guard Deron Williams said. “Maybe outside perception did, but inside this locker room it wasn’t a big deal or a distraction.”
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (39-18): Lillard wouldn’t accept all the credit for his latest strong outing with his fellow All-Star sitting out, saying several other teammates also made up for Aldridge’s absence. “I think it was a lot of guys, it wasn’t just me,” the second-year guard said after the win in Denver. “Obviously I have to be a little more aggressive and step up my game with him out. We’ve been having guys step up consistently. … Everybody has raised their level of play. That’s what we’re going to needs as long as (Aldridge) is out.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers notched a 108-98 win in Brooklyn on Nov. 27 and hold a 32-6 home edge against the Nets.
2. F Nicolas Batum made three 3-pointers against the Nuggets to raise his career count to 602, joining Terry Porter (773) and Damon Stoudamire (717) as the only players in franchise history with 600 or more.
3. SG Marcus Thornton is expected to make his Brooklyn debut after missing the last two games due to a bout with food poisoning.