Trail Blazers at Clippers
The Portland Trail Blazers have trouble leaving the court victorious when they are on the road and try to notch an away win when they visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Portland won at Sacramento on Sunday for just its second victory in its last 10 road games and will try to knock off a Los Angeles team that is 23-8 at home. Both teams enter with three-game winning streaks but the Clippers are 2-0 against the Trail Blazers this season.
Los Angeles posted a 110-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday with center DeAndre Jordan collecting 18 rebounds for his ninth straight game of 15 or more boards. Portland is 14-13 overall on the road and coach Terry Stotts doesn’t see things becoming any easier over the final six weeks of the season. “At this stage of the season, when there are 20-some games left to go, every game gets magnified a little bit more, seems like a little bit more importance is played on each game,” Stotts told reporters. “Home or road, you’ve got to get the wins when you can.”
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, CSN Northwest (Portland), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (39-19): Forward LaMarcus Aldridge continues to thrive while playing through a thumb injury. The All-Star had 26 points and 15 rebounds against the Kings for his third consecutive double-double and his 30th double-double of the season. Aldridge has fared well against the Clippers with four double-doubles in his past five games, including a 37-point outing – his most ever against Los Angeles – in a 100-94 loss on Jan. 14, and he is averaging 27.2 points and 9.2 rebounds in that five-game span.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (40-21): All-Star power forward Blake Griffin (elbow) has been sidelined for nearly a month but appears to be close to making his return. “He’s going full-tilt now and that’s good,” Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers told reporters. “I’m not even sure what that means not being there, but I know he’s working out and that’s all you can hope for right now. So that’s a good sign.” The Clippers have gone 7-3 without Griffin, who will need to be cleared by doctors prior to making his return.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Clippers haven’t won three straight against Portland since the 2005-06 season.
2. Portland PG Damian Lillard (546) made three 3-pointers against Sacramento to surpass Golden State’s Klay Thompson (545) for most 3-pointers over a player’s first three NBA seasons.
3. Los Angeles SF Matt Barnes (hamstring) and SG Jamal Crawford (calf) are questionable.