Trail Blazers at Hawks
The Portland Trail Blazers are moving on after the loss of center Jusuf Nurkic and are trying to fight off the Houston Rockets for the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference. The Trail Blazers will try to push their winning streak to six straight when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
Portland lost Nurkic to a compound leg fracture in a double-overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday and played its first game without the big man in the opener of a four-game trip on Wednesday, easing past the Chicago Bulls 118-98. "Just went out there, did our job defensively because we know we're going to score the ball," center Enes Kanter, who started in place of Nurkic, told reporters. "I think the most important thing for us to get to the next level, especially in the playoffs, is the defensive end." The Hawks are out of the race but aren't making it easy on opponents with wins in three straight wins, including a pair of victories over playoff teams. Rookie point guard Trae Young led the way with 33 points and 12 assists for his 24th double-double in a 130-120 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), FS Southeast (Atlanta)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (47-27): Portland is trying to earn the best possible seed in the West while also experimenting with different lineup combinations and gave the reserves plenty of run on Wednesday, with shooting guard Seth Curry stepping up to score a team-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting. "Getting more opportunity, more minutes, so just trying to play the same way, find good shots," Curry told reporters. "Offensively, move without the ball, be aggressive to create plays in the pick and roll. That's the biggest different, just getting more pick and rolls and being able to make plays with the ball in my hands. Just trying to take a little bit of pressure off of (point guard Damian Lillard) when he's resting and even when he's out there." Guard Rodney Hood (15 points on 6-of-10 shooting) and power forward Zach Collins (13 points on 4-of-6) joined Curry in double figures off the bench.
ABOUT THE HAWKS (27-48): Young posted a double-double in each of the last four games and averaged 32.5 points in the last two contests as he comes to the end of a stellar rookie campaign. "Trae's unbelievable with the basketball," Atlanta coach Lloyd Pierce told reporters. "He's unbelievable with the pick-and-roll, he can get downhill and he's making the right decisions. We've played 75 games together now, and our spacing is great. When we know where our outlets are, then it's easy to make the right play. He's obviously very efficient, but it's a testament to the guys being in the right spots all the time." Center Dewayne Dedmon has been in the right spots of late and is 19-of-27 from the floor over the last three contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Lillard is 13-of-42 from the floor, including 5-of-22 from beyond the arc, over the last two games.
2. Hawks PF John Collins, who leads the team in scoring (19.3 points) and shooting percentage (56.3) is averaging 11.3 points on 13-of-32 from the floor over the last three contests.
3. Portland turned away Atlanta 120-111 on Jan. 26 behind a triple-double from SG CJ McCollum, who is out with a knee injury.