Forward Maurice Harkless left knee didn't play at all during the Trail Blazers five-game preseason, but he is listed as probable for Thursday's game vs. Harkless told the media on Wednesday his knee is feeling good and he has been preparing as if he will play in the home opener. The good thing for Harkless is he has only been dealing with knee pain as of late. His ankle isn't bothering him anymore. He does expect to be on a minutes restriction. Harless had been listed as probable for two of three preseason games, but was a late scratch in both and did not play. Damian Lillard feels that Harkless will play on Thursday. He makes us a better team. He makes us more versatile. Lillard is right, the Trail Blazers are better with Harkless than without. If the Blazers 1. The 1-0 Spurs come in off a 112-108 home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday night in their first game since 2001 without either Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, two-thirds of the Big Three that brought multiple championships along with retired Tim Duncan to the franchise. The Spurs, of course, were also without Kawhi Leonard, traded last summer to Toronto for DeMar DeRozan, But the Spurs are still the Spurs — a team not to be taken lightly, especially with the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge and DeRozan carrying a heavy load. It will be a good game. And the between Aldridge and DeRozan will be something to watch. I have to get used to being ready and just taking my time. When I figure it out and I get my rhythm back, it's going to be way easier out there to score having him. DeRozan scored 28, including a field goal and two free throws late to seal the game. I'm not afraid to make mistakes, but with that I'm not afraid to try to go out there and win the game. Tags: , , , , , A number of questions came out of the Trail Blazers regular season opener. Mostly, what is constituted as a foul and just what is considered continuation? And while it may seem petty to talk about officiating after a team wins, there were five plays in particular that were downright eggregious. LeBron fell down, plain and simple. It was a bailout call. Caldwell-Pope flopped right into next Tuesday. See argument from number four. Foul calls on Zach Collins that prevented him from securing his 7th and 8th blocks. Flopping and bailout foul calls are one of the more maddening aspects to have seeped into the fiber of the NBA game. It is amazing players still get away with what they do and with almost zero reason to stop doing it as long as officials are baited into calling it. Game film piles up, and eventually opposing defenses start to adapt. That adaptation forces coaches to work in new wrinkles, which Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts has slowly done during his six seasons in Rip City. Split cuts became well known in modern NBA offenses thanks in part to the Golden State Warriors, who use them to counteract defenders playing too high on screens for shooters. The basic idea of a split cut is pretty simple. It involves having a screener cut to the basket quickly after setting a screen on an opposing player, usually a shooter. At their core, split cuts are dummy screens for 3-point shots. A player moves toward a teammate to give him a screen, presumably to get that player a shot at the arc. If the defense jumps high to defend that 3-point shot, the screener then cuts toward the basket just a touch early and usually has an open look at the rim. Watch the full video above to see how split cuts work in action, and look for new adaptations of this theory as the season goes on in Portland. Here's what our Blazers Outsiders think following the big win. JOE SIMONS: Like all of Rip City, I'm obviously thrilled with the Blazers 16th! ET running the second unit was beautiful to watch; highlighted by Collins' defense and Sauce pouring in 24. The Spurs will be a fun test on Saturday. I'll be looking forward to the bench play most of all, to see if this is the new normal, or if the Lakers are just not very good. But aside from a few dunks, LEBRON and the Lake Show extremegag. JAKE MCGRADY: As much as I hate to be THAT guy who gets overly optimistic over one game.... The Trail Blazers definitely have some weak spots still, but the strong points overshadowed those by far. The Lakers legitimately are the worst three-point shooting team in the NBA, Dame is looking very Dame-ish as always, Zach is looking poised and confident, Aminu didn't break our hearts with a million three attempts, and Nik Stausaks is our new lord and savior. Build the man a statue outside the Moda already; I'll pitch in for the fees. CHRIS BURKHARDT: His name is Nik Stauskas. If you didn't know it before, you know it now. The man known as Sauce Castillo poured in 24 points off the bench, including 5-8 from deep. Sure, this level of play may not be sustainable for the entire season, but what we saw Thursday was simply amazing. Questions filled the air entering the season when the Blazers let Pat Connaughton go. Fans worried if Stauskas could fill the void. He slammed the door shut on those worries. Stauskas' performance was so jaw-dropping that we are barely talking about Zach Collins and his six blocks! Collins looked out of sorts early on but made some great adjustments as the game progressed and his defense was key to the Blazers victory. It's still early, but I really liked what I saw in Game 1. From there on out it was Stauskas Time! While Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum struggled from the field it was the Blazers bench who carried with day - of course, buoyed by Stauskas- with 55 combined points from the bench. The Lakers hit a single shot outside of 10 feet in the first half and yet Portland was still running out to shooters and jumping at ball fakes allowing the Lakers to score at will inside. Whether it was an inspirational speech or someone finally saw the shot chart, the Blazers figured it out and started clogging the lane. Zach Collins was hyped. Kudos to all of you who picked Stauskas and Collins to make the biggest contributions of their NBA careers on the same night. And on weeknights when the Blazers aren't playing you can catch Blazers Outsiders with Alex, Chris, and Jake. Tags: , , Two hours before tip-off hundreds of purple and gold clad fans poured into the lower bowl of the Moda Center. It had the anticipatory feel of a rock concert. Only instead of tour t-shirts the fans were adorned with No. On the edges of the court, media members waited, too. More than 90 minutes before the Portland Trail Blazers played host to the rival Lakers everyone in the arena was anticipating a pregame shooting routine, a sound check of sorts, for a rock star that never showed. He did finally arrive, of course. But he waited to make his entrance with a couple emphatic dunks in the first quarter, and by that time the visiting fans were outnumbered 10 to 1 by the Blazers faithful. There is a certain amount of mayhem that will inevitably follow James and his Lakers all season. Not just on the court, where their first performance of the year ended in a 128-119 defeat and showed some of their obvious deficiencies, but behind the scenes as well. Before Damian Lillard 28 points , Nik Stauskas 24 points and Zach Collins six blocks spoiled James' debut, there were Blazers employees scrambling behind the scenes to prepare for a uniquely chaotic night. There were more than 120 credentialed media members in the arena on Thursday, nearly twice as many than an average regular season night when the team credentials between 60 and 70 people. For the first time since anyone working with the Blazers could recall, the team opened up an auxiliary media section at the very top of the arena, creating press seating above the 300 level. It was a perfect confluence of events to be a memorably chaotic scene in every corner of the building. It was a season opener, meaning every local media affiliate was there with a full crew. It was a nationally televised game, meaning TNT cameras and on-air talent arrived early to capture the scene. It was a game featuring the Lakers, a global brand that also happens to be an NBA basketball team. The LeBron circus was magnified even more in the postgame press conference. Instead of the usual five cameras filming the postgame interviews, there were 16, not including TNT, lined up inside the Harry Glickman Media center. It was a one-off chaotic mess. But this could be close to the norm for James and Lakers on the road all year. Regardless of what happens on the court for the Lakers, their traveling show will include a behind the scenes media maelstrom at every stop. Tags: , , , , , The Portland Trail Blazers season has officially started and the Blazers certainly on Thursday night. Stauskas dropped 24 points on 7-11 from the field and 5-8 from three-point range. The 6-10 forward blocked Lonzo Ball at the rim during the 4th quarter, which led to a big bucket from Stauskas. Collins finished the night with a career high six blocks, six rebounds, and six points in 26 minutes. James managed 26 points and 12 rebounds in 37 minutes, but the Blazers spoiled his first game in a Lakers uniform. James' quest to deliver a 17th NBA title to the Lakers is very much a work in progress. The Blazers Outsiders the Lakers were handed in the season opener. The Moda Center crowd was on its feet, Trail Blazers second year player Zach Collins had just blocked Lonzo Ball at the rim, Nik Stauskas then pulled up for three-pointer — swish, it was 107-100 Blazers. Just as Zach has done all his life, he made sure to look up at his parents in the crowd. It was a special night in Portland with LeBron James and the Lakers in town, but it was also a night for Collins to show what he can do on the defensive end and having a career night vs. Collins finished with a career high six blocks to go along with six rebounds and six points in 26 minutes of action. He also had the best plus-minus of the team with a +24. These questions come to mind when you watch Collins downlow-- Can he be the enforcer on this Blazers team? Can he be an elite defender? Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum believe so. He protected the basket. This Lakers team was no easy task for the young Collins either, just ask Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. He had a tough assignment guarding a three-point shooter and still protecting the rim. He enjoys the competition. Collins feels that playing to his strengths of protecting the rim is where he can help the Blazers the most and Lillard is pleased to see such growth from Collins.
