Blazers
28-21

Bobcats
24-22

PG

If you're Andre Miller, coming off of a 52 point outing in Dallas, how do you follow that up in Portland? I'd say he has a few less points, maybe 10-15 but he'll get his teammates involved big time. Steve Blake should also be able to get off for some triples.

Raymond Felton and DJ Augustin have been solid for Charlotte, but also inconsistent. They aren't focal points offensively so as long as they are distributing, the Bobcats succeed. But tonight, I like Portland's point guards.

PG

SG

The Bobcats are 21-16 since the arrival of Stephen Jackson. Everything is always peachy in the honeymoon phase with Jackson, and right now things have never been better for Charlotte. When he's focused, Stephen is an amazing player and he's helped take the Cats to the next level.

We don't have anyone who can defend Jackson, so it will be about Jerryd forcing the issue on offense and Rudy hitting open jumpers when he's called upon. But realistically, Jackson and Flip Murray win here.

SG

SF

If there is such a thing as my favorite non-Blazer in the NBA, Gerald Wallace is right at the top of my list. He's such a versatile and complete small forward and finally became an All-Star this year for his efforts. He's good.

Martell has struggled lately, and might need to be coming off the bench. Portland will need Nicolas Batum to guard Crash(or maybe Jackson) in order for the Blazers to control this game. I worry about Wallace going off, he gets the W here.

SF

PF

LaMarcus Aldridge is probably pretty stoked to see he'll be guarding the only power forward who plays more finesse than him. Boris Diaw can hit the three and go off from time to time, but with Jackson and Wallace in the mix, his offense stays leveled off.

I think this is an opportunity game for LaMarcus to really get to work. He's shown better offensive movement around the rim lately, and I like him to be the focal point of this game. How about pushing 30 points? LA wins here.

PF

C

Juwan Howard continues to impress at some point in almost ever game this year. Last game it wasn't so much scoring the ball, but his 12 rebounds and 1 field goal, which was the game winner, made a big difference.

This match-up involves two nonathletic big's against our two scrappy medium's. I'm going out on a limb and saying at home Juwan and Jeff do the work on the boards and take this match-up. Nazr won't be a threat and Juwan will knock down a handful of jumpers.

C