The Trail Blazers will be down a starter for Game 1 of their first-round series against the top-seeded Lakers on Tuesday. Power forward Zach Collins will sit out due to left ankle inflammation, Marc J. Spears of ESPN tweets. Wenyen Gabriel will start in Collins’ place.
Collins, who missed most of the season after undergoing left shoulder surgery, appeared in all eight of the seeding games for the Trail Blazers. He averaged 6.3 PPG and 7.1 RPG in those outings.
We have more from around the Western Conference:
- Thunder wing Luguentz Dort is unlikely to play in their opener against Houston on Tuesday due to a knee sprain, Royce Young of ESPN tweets. However, head coach Billy Donovan said Dort is progressing well, which suggests the rookie will play in the series. Dort was injured against Miami on Wednesday. He could be a key defensive factor against the small-ball Rockets.
- DeMar DeRozan and the Spurs have some tough decisions to make regarding his future, as Bobby Marks of ESPN notes. DeRozan must decide by October 13 whether to exercise his $27.7MM option for next season. That won’t necessarily mean DeRozan will remain with the club. He could get traded, whether or not he opts it. The club could also work out an extension with DeRozan or decide during next season whether to extend or trade him if he opts in.
- Lakers superstar LeBron James believes this will be his most difficult playoff run, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. James sees a number of challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic and the league being forced to play in a neutral venue. “As far as me locking in on an opponent and individuals, that hasn’t changed. What’s different is this is the environment, not home,” he said. “Not with my family, not in my own bed, I’m not in our own practice facility. I’m not preparing to be at Staples [Center] tomorrow with our fans. I’m not with a lot of things that’s essential to my everyday regimen.”
Of course it will be LeBron’s most difficult playoff run, by far. He no longer has the luxury of playing 3 rounds against weak eastern conference competition giving him an easy path to the Finals. Obviously his record against the West is much worse than it is against the east because every playoff game he played against the West with Cleveland or Miami has been in the Finals. But now he has to get past three extremely talented teams if he wants another shot at a ring.
Harden Boner party of one.
The Harden Hater section is in the back next to the restrooms.
You see I’m not only one lol. That was funny
As usual James Harden disappeared in the playoffs and scored just 37 points against OKC. Typical terrible shooting, especially without Westbrook, just 12-22. So overrated.
I’m truly a big fan of Lebron and all that he’s done… but you aren’t wrong. He’s now got his superteam-superfriend that happened totally without any tampering or collusion, and there’s zero guarantee the Lakers even reach the WCF. In fact, I’d bet against it.
The smart bettors out there are taking the field over the Lakers to reach The Finals. In fact their chances of reaching the 2nd round aren’t really much better than the Clippers, Nuggets, or Rockets.
You miss that the west is a much tougher playoff than the east. LeBron played against teams that would never have even been close to the playoffs. Now he will be playing tough teams in every round. There are 6 teams that could be the WCF champs instead in the east which is 2.
So the Lakers get the #1 seed in the west but LeBron struggles against the West? Fact: Lakers went 36-10 against the rest of the West this season. Get a clue bud
At least LAL are a likeable team, not like their neighbors, what a bunch of dirty guys! Marcus Morris as always causing trouble, assaulting Luka & getting KP6 ejected, what some teams need to do to win is real shameful! Just hope DAL & Luka do trounce LAC out of the playoffs!
Right…because you’re a fan of Luka. We get it.
Luka is great. But Mavs ain’t beating Clippers for next 4 yrs. LA looks a Clipper town now. It will be fun.
Yeah, Morris totally knew KP would get ejected. As you mentioned, the call didn’t make any sense. Thus, the Clippers didn’t try to get Porzingis tossed. Besides, Doc told the sideline reporter he’d rather have Porzingis in the game. I think you just need an excuse to hate LAC
Why would I need an excuse? I love Luka, the biggest genius I have seen in years in the league, the guy is unique, love to see him play! LAC nothing much to watch, real boring team without any excitement, full of dirty guys that wanna win at all costs… not interested in them at all! Rather keep watchin’ Luka as long as possible! & KP6 too!
Neutral court will no doubt neuter advantages of having a better record. MIL was 3-5 in da bubble…have the Bucks been turned into Does? LAL is in the same boat, I’m taking the field to win the title over the LAL/MIL combo.
On a side note: How does DeRozan have a tough decision?
If he wants to secure a final long-term contract, this could be his opportunity to do so. He’d be sacrificing the lucrative value offered with the player option, but he’d have a steadier overall outlook even if he struggles or declines
The absence of Collins to is going to severely hinder Portland’s chances of stopping the Lakers’ bigs in the paint. Davis, McGee, and Howard are going to have a field day
Collins has been dreadful in the bubble, do you realize that, right?
AD went 8 for 24 in the absence of Collins, not much hindrance there.
DeRozan is not giving up that money. Best case is he gets traded to team he wants to play for. He still has some good yrs left. Plus Spurs would be smart to move him.
Collins will just Bkazers. But they have been here. He won’t miss more than 2 gms. I doubt Rondo plays. It should be a good series. Only way Lakers have a real shot. Is Kuzma avg 20 a gm. And their bench plays well. Clippers are deep team. No one is beating them.
Mavs should not be giving them trouble. Harrell still coming along. Gotta say Mavs played well. Clippers better wake up.
OKC was outscored by 19 points during the 32 minutes that Schroder was on the court. Jeff Green was also on the court for 32 minutes during which time OKC was outscored by 28 points. The Rockets bench doesn’t get the credit they deserve.
So which Rocket does get the credit they deserve?
I think Schroder needed more hair dye. Something. There was no swooshing.
Jeff Green looking good !!