Hoopinion: March 12th Game Preview: Portland Trail Blazers (37-28) @ Atlanta Hawks (37-28)

[Hawksquawk]

TIP-OFF: 7:30pm (EST)

TELEVISION: SportSouth

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Trailblazers

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: None.

PORTLAND INJURY REPORT: Greg Oden and Elliot Williams are out.

BY THE NUMBERS

2010-11	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
POR (off)	88.4	1.079	48.4	22.1	29.3	12.7
ATL (def)	89.4	1.063	49	27.1	25.7	14.2

2010-11	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
POR (def)	88.4	1.07	51	31.2	27.8	15.6
ATL (off)	89.3	1.065	49.9	21	24.2	15.5

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Portland Roundball Society, Blazers Edge

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -1, 181 o/u

PREVIOUSLY...the Portland Trail Blazers lost 97-92 at the Charlotte Bobcats last night. Their four-game Southeastern swing began with impressive back-to-back wins in Orlando and Miami.

The Hawks beat the Blazers 90-83 in Portland on February 27th.

On a four-game losing streak and having lost TK of TK since the scheduled stiffened, the Hawks have now outscored their opponents by just five points over 65 games and 5,827 possessions. Twenty-five games and 2,220 possessions ago, the Hawks were +120 on the season.

Unfortunately, the two most likely changes I envision for the Hawks are either Damien Wilkins starting in place of Marvin Williams* or Josh Powell getting rewarded for his two garbage time buckets last night with another futile reappearance in the rotation.

*At what point does giving Marvin Williams a 5-year, $37.5 million extension becomes a worse decision than drafting Williams second overall?

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

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