Milwaukee Bucks +5 -109 $109/$100
Portland Trail Blazers +7 -105 $105/$100
season to date: 8-11 -$370.00
Portland Trail Blazers +7 -105 $105/$100
season to date: 8-11 -$370.00
NBA...
- Thread starter IE
- Start date
yes, thanks...the team will have to suck it up tonight looks like....
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Blazers hit tough run with key players out
Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Darius Miles are hurt as Portland plays only one team the rest of January with a worse record
Friday, January 07, 2005
TUALATIN -- If the Trail Blazers are going to make a midseason run toward respectability, it will have to be without two of the team's best players.
With a daunting January schedule looming, the Blazers on Thursday learned Darius Miles will be lost for up to two weeks with a left knee injury and Shareef Abdur-Rahim could be out at least five weeks if he opts for surgery on his right elbow.
It was close to a worst-case outcome for the struggling Blazers (14-16), who tonight face the Eastern Conference leading Miami Heat (26-8) and its dynamic duo of thunder (Shaquille O'Neal) and lightning (Dwyane Wade) in the Rose Garden. Of the Blazers' 12 remaining games this month, only one -- next Friday in New Orleans -- is against a team with a poorer record than the Blazers'.
"There's nothing we can do about it, so we aren't going to be crying about it," coach Maurice Cheeks said. "Nobody is going to feel sorry for us that Shareef is out, and Darius is out, so we just have to plug guys in and get ready to play and hope that those guys who have been sitting on the side are ready. I think they are."
Cheeks said he will start Ruben Patterson or Travis Outlaw at small forward tonight.
How long the Blazers are forced to go with a makeshift lineup depends on whether Abdur-Rahim elects to have surgery or decides to keep playing through pain, knowing that he will periodically have to take some games off to rejuvenate the joint.
Abdur-Rahim has been examined by two doctors -- one in Vancouver and one in Los Angeles -- and on Thursday he met with Blazers team doctor Don Roberts, trainer Jay Jensen and general manager John Nash.
"Shareef has all the facts, so now he can make an intelligent decision as to what to do," Jensen said. "He is weighing everything right now, because he wants to do the right thing. It's not an easy decision."
After Thursday's meeting at the Rose Quarter, Abdur-Rahim held a phone conference with his agent, Aaron Goodwin, and the two decided to take the Blazers' advice and seek a third doctor's opinion today.
"We talked about (surgery), but we are going to wait to make a decision," Goodwin said. "The team is not at it's best right now, so anything he can do to help it, he wants to do it. But if he plays two games, then has to sit out three . . . then that's not in the best interest of anybody."
Abdur-Rahim, who never had missed consecutive games because of injury in his eight-year career, missed six games in a row in December. He returned Dec. 30 and played in three consecutive games, averaging 18 points, before sitting out Wednesday's game in Los Angeles.
If he elects to have surgery to remove the loose fragments in his elbow, the typical recovery time is five weeks, although Jensen cautioned that each person heals differently, meaning it could be more or less than five weeks.
Meanwhile, Miles was hobbling around the practice facility on crutches Thursday, saying he seriously doubted he would accompany the team on its upcoming six-game trip, which starts Sunday in New York.
A magnetic resonance imaging test Thursday revealed that Miles has a bone bruise in his left knee but no ligament or structural damage. The injury occurred with 2:43 left in Wednesday's game against the Clippers as Miles was called for charging into Bobby Simmons.
During the play Miles said, he didn't bang knees or land awkwardly, but as he took about four steps away from the play, his knee "felt real funny." He then collapsed near midcourt while clutching his knee and had to be carried off.
The Blazers estimated Miles will be out for about two weeks.
"But if there is one guy who could be back quicker, it's Darius," Jensen said. "I have found Darius to be very resilient. He bounces right back."
"I know we are in bad times, and I wish I could help," Miles said. "I stayed up to like 6 a.m. last night -- just thinking about things. I hate missing games, and I can usually play with pain. But if it's too much, I have to sit out."
Notes:
Forward Zach Randolph was fined an undisclosed amount by the team in Los Angeles after he missed both team buses from the team hotel to the Staples Center. Randolph took a cab to the arena and arrived early enough that Cheeks said he didn't feel the need to punish him. It was the second time this season Randolph has been fined for tardiness. In November, he missed the team flight to Toronto, when he was also fined, but not otherwise punished. . . .
Patterson on Thursday apparently jumped to conclusions when he learned Miles and Abdur-Rahim would not play tonight, telling reporters that Cheeks told him he would start. It was news to Cheeks. "I didn't say that," Cheeks said as Patterson lifted weights behind him. "I didn't say I was starting Ruben Patterson." After explaining that Patterson was an option -- along with Outlaw -- Cheeks stopped and looked through a window into the weight room, slapping the pane to get Patterson's attention. "Where's Ruben at?" Cheeks shouted, half-playful, half-agitated. "I didn't tell you that you were starting. Why did you tell these guys you were starting?" Patterson smiled and later tried to convince Cheeks that he told reporters he "might" start."
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Blazers hit tough run with key players out
Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Darius Miles are hurt as Portland plays only one team the rest of January with a worse record
Friday, January 07, 2005
TUALATIN -- If the Trail Blazers are going to make a midseason run toward respectability, it will have to be without two of the team's best players.
With a daunting January schedule looming, the Blazers on Thursday learned Darius Miles will be lost for up to two weeks with a left knee injury and Shareef Abdur-Rahim could be out at least five weeks if he opts for surgery on his right elbow.
It was close to a worst-case outcome for the struggling Blazers (14-16), who tonight face the Eastern Conference leading Miami Heat (26-8) and its dynamic duo of thunder (Shaquille O'Neal) and lightning (Dwyane Wade) in the Rose Garden. Of the Blazers' 12 remaining games this month, only one -- next Friday in New Orleans -- is against a team with a poorer record than the Blazers'.
"There's nothing we can do about it, so we aren't going to be crying about it," coach Maurice Cheeks said. "Nobody is going to feel sorry for us that Shareef is out, and Darius is out, so we just have to plug guys in and get ready to play and hope that those guys who have been sitting on the side are ready. I think they are."
Cheeks said he will start Ruben Patterson or Travis Outlaw at small forward tonight.
How long the Blazers are forced to go with a makeshift lineup depends on whether Abdur-Rahim elects to have surgery or decides to keep playing through pain, knowing that he will periodically have to take some games off to rejuvenate the joint.
Abdur-Rahim has been examined by two doctors -- one in Vancouver and one in Los Angeles -- and on Thursday he met with Blazers team doctor Don Roberts, trainer Jay Jensen and general manager John Nash.
"Shareef has all the facts, so now he can make an intelligent decision as to what to do," Jensen said. "He is weighing everything right now, because he wants to do the right thing. It's not an easy decision."
After Thursday's meeting at the Rose Quarter, Abdur-Rahim held a phone conference with his agent, Aaron Goodwin, and the two decided to take the Blazers' advice and seek a third doctor's opinion today.
"We talked about (surgery), but we are going to wait to make a decision," Goodwin said. "The team is not at it's best right now, so anything he can do to help it, he wants to do it. But if he plays two games, then has to sit out three . . . then that's not in the best interest of anybody."
Abdur-Rahim, who never had missed consecutive games because of injury in his eight-year career, missed six games in a row in December. He returned Dec. 30 and played in three consecutive games, averaging 18 points, before sitting out Wednesday's game in Los Angeles.
If he elects to have surgery to remove the loose fragments in his elbow, the typical recovery time is five weeks, although Jensen cautioned that each person heals differently, meaning it could be more or less than five weeks.
Meanwhile, Miles was hobbling around the practice facility on crutches Thursday, saying he seriously doubted he would accompany the team on its upcoming six-game trip, which starts Sunday in New York.
A magnetic resonance imaging test Thursday revealed that Miles has a bone bruise in his left knee but no ligament or structural damage. The injury occurred with 2:43 left in Wednesday's game against the Clippers as Miles was called for charging into Bobby Simmons.
During the play Miles said, he didn't bang knees or land awkwardly, but as he took about four steps away from the play, his knee "felt real funny." He then collapsed near midcourt while clutching his knee and had to be carried off.
The Blazers estimated Miles will be out for about two weeks.
"But if there is one guy who could be back quicker, it's Darius," Jensen said. "I have found Darius to be very resilient. He bounces right back."
"I know we are in bad times, and I wish I could help," Miles said. "I stayed up to like 6 a.m. last night -- just thinking about things. I hate missing games, and I can usually play with pain. But if it's too much, I have to sit out."
Notes:
Forward Zach Randolph was fined an undisclosed amount by the team in Los Angeles after he missed both team buses from the team hotel to the Staples Center. Randolph took a cab to the arena and arrived early enough that Cheeks said he didn't feel the need to punish him. It was the second time this season Randolph has been fined for tardiness. In November, he missed the team flight to Toronto, when he was also fined, but not otherwise punished. . . .
Patterson on Thursday apparently jumped to conclusions when he learned Miles and Abdur-Rahim would not play tonight, telling reporters that Cheeks told him he would start. It was news to Cheeks. "I didn't say that," Cheeks said as Patterson lifted weights behind him. "I didn't say I was starting Ruben Patterson." After explaining that Patterson was an option -- along with Outlaw -- Cheeks stopped and looked through a window into the weight room, slapping the pane to get Patterson's attention. "Where's Ruben at?" Cheeks shouted, half-playful, half-agitated. "I didn't tell you that you were starting. Why did you tell these guys you were starting?" Patterson smiled and later tried to convince Cheeks that he told reporters he "might" start."
