Injuries All Around
Without one of their key players to start the season, the San Antonio Spurs weren’t happy with their performance in their opener, starting 0-1 for the first time under coach Gregg Popovich.
Still, they’re feeling much better than the Portland Trail Blazers.
As prized 2007 top pick Greg Oden recovers from another injury, the Blazers will look to rebound from a lopsided loss to start the season Friday night in their home opener against the Spurs, who’ve beaten them 12 straight times.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Trailblazers –1 point spread favorites (NBA Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 178 (View Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 57% of bets for this game have been placed on Trailblazers–1 (View NBA Bet Percentages).
Portland (0-1) had high hopes for 2008-09 after the young Blazers managed to finish .500 last season even with Oden out for all 82 games following microfracture knee surgery.
But Oden’s long-awaited debut didn’t last long on Tuesday night, as he played only 13 minutes, did not score a point and sprained his foot in a 96-76 road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The 7-footer from Ohio State is expected to miss two-to-four weeks after landing on the foot of Lakers guard Derek Fisher. Joel Przybilla will slide into the starting center spot for Portland.
"You don’t want injuries, and he’s worked so hard throughout this summer to get himself back," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "And we tried to do everything we could to get him ready for the season and the opener, and he steps on a guy’s foot."
Oden’s injury wasn’t Portland’s only concern in an ugly loss Tuesday, as the Blazers shot 34.5 percent from the field and trailed by 15 at halftime. They scored 76 points or fewer only three times all of last season, but their offense was out of sync against the defending Western Conference champs.
Brandon Roy was just 5-of-15 from the floor, while Channing Frye missed all seven of his shots and LaMarcus Aldridge went 4-of-12.
"(The Lakers) did what they needed to do," Frye said. "They disrupted our whole offense and our whole system. They completely threw us off and they definitely proved a point tonight. We have a lot of work to do but we have to remember this game."
One bright spot was the play of Spanish rookie Rudy Fernandez, whose NBA debut went much better than Oden’s, totaling 16 points and four assists off the bench and shooting 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
"Rudy was the one player that was pretty aggressive out there tonight," McMillan said. "… He did some nice things and he seemed pretty comfortable."
The Spurs, playing without Manu Ginobili, weren’t pleased with their own performance on Wednesday, when they lost to Phoenix 103-98 at home.
San Antonio had won its previous 12 openers under Popovich, but despite 32 points each from Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, the Spurs couldn’t contain the high-powered Suns.
"Several people made poor decisions in the game down the stretch," Popovich said. "It was the worst transition defense I’ve seen in years. I can’t imagine how bad it was. We didn’t rebound. It was our poorest performance in the preseason up until this time. It was very disappointing."
The Spurs will have to learn to win without Ginobili, who won’t return to the court until December following offseason ankle surgery. They were also without center Fabricio Oberto, who is expected to miss another game Friday after suffering from an irregular heartbeat.
Perhaps facing the Blazers will help San Antonio. The Spurs have won 12 straight and 19 of their last 20 in the series, sweeping all three meetings last season.
On their only trip to Portland in 2007-08, they held the Blazers to a season low in points in a 72-65 victory on April 6. That was a rare poor performance at home for the Blazers, who were 28-13 at the Rose Garden.
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