"As Blazers prepare for Lakers visit, coach Terry Stotts contemplates starting
4 rookies"
http://ppt.cc/OCJi
The Trail Blazers on Wednesday will simultaneously try avoid their longest
losing streak in seven years and spoil the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff
aspirations.
And they very well might attempt both while making franchise history.
As his starting lineup continues to be ravaged by injuries, coach Terry
Stotts is contemplating starting four rookies when the Lakers visit the Rose
Garden Wednesday night. If it happens, it would be the first time in
franchise history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
How did it get to this point?
Starting shooting guard Wesley Matthews sprained his right ankle Sunday night
in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks and already has been ruled out against the
Lakers. Starting small forward Nicolas Batum was able to shoot Tuesday, but
continues to deal with the effects of a superior labral tear in his right
shoulder and is listed as doubtful. Meanwhile, starting center JJ Hickson
skipped Tuesday’s practice with lower back pain and is considered
questionable.
And while the availability of the trio looks grim, their replacements look
young. Stotts on Tuesday said he was leaning toward starting rookie Will
Barton in place of Matthews at shooting guard. Rookie Victor Claver has
started the last three games for Batum and rookie center Meyers Leonard has
started in place of Hickson or LaMarcus Aldridge six times this season. Add
them to rookie point guard Damian Lillard and the four-rookie starting lineup
is complete.
It could not come at a worse time for the Blazers (33-44), who have lost a
season-high eight consecutive games and are trying to avoid a complete
free-fall at the end of a promising season. The franchise has not endured a
nine-game losing streak since the 2005-06 season, when they lost 19 of the
last 20 games, including 11 in a row from March 14 to April 2
The losing streak, the young starting lineup and the chance to play spoiler
to a Lakers team that is frantically trying to capture the eighth seed in the
Western Conference playoff hunt should create an extra dose of motivation for
a reeling Blazers team.
Actually, Stotts said, the Lakers alone provide enough motivation.
“Everybody gets up for playing the Lakers,” he said. “We realize the
implications for them, what the game means for them. But when you’re going
up against Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, if Steve Nash plays — these guys grew
up watching them. So I think there’s certainly a lot of motivation playing
them.”
Matthews undergoes MRI, results negative
Matthews limped around the practice facility wearing a walking boot on his
right foot Tuesday afternoon and it is unclear how long he’ll have to deal
with the cumbersome protection.
He underwent two magnetic resonance imaging tests on his sprained right ankle
and neither revealed significant damage, including any ligament tears.
Matthews said there was some soft tissue damage, however, and he planned to
undergo two more MRI tests as a precaution.
When asked if he thought he would play again this season, Matthews seemed
prepared for the worst.
“I don’t know,” he said. “(I’ll) listen to my body and see how it goes.”
Batum shoots for first time in eight days
Batum did not fully return to practice Tuesday, but did participate in some
post-practice shooting. He went through a series of shooting drills for about
30 minutes alongside injured teammate Elliot Williams, testing his ailing
right shoulder for the first time since April 1.
“It’s still sore, a little bit sore,” Batum said afterward. “Shooting at
the end, I feel like my shoulder was burning.”
Batum labeled himself a game-time decision. But the team is taking extra
caution because the injury is in the same right shoulder that Batum had
surgery on in 2009.