Coty Davis of thedreamshake.com joined Tara to preview the Portland Trail Blazers vs Houston Rockets matchup. How has Russell Westbrook’s arrival changed the team? What are the Rockets weaknesses? Who is the leader of the team? Coty is a long-time fan of Carmelo Anthony so he also weighs in on how his arrival might impact the Trail Blazers. 

1:00 How the arrival of Westbrook has changed things. The pace has really increased. The offense is now “six seconds or less”. There seems to be a new attitude.

2:00 How do they play together? They start each half together, but then they are staggered. Westbrook is getting longer rests than he ever did in OKC. James Harden is still playing a lot of minutes. He seems to run out of gas every season. 

5:00 Has the duo evolved in any way? They both are really sticking to their game, they don’t seem to have evolved together yet. 

6:30 What are the biggest weaknesses of the team? They struggle on defense and they are small so they are frequently out-rebounded. Their defense is really up and down this season. 

10:30 Who is the leader of the Rockets? Harden on the floor, PJ Tucker in the locker room. He hustles on the court and in practice, he’s a vocal leader, takes the younger players under his wings. Not to say that Harden and Westbrook don’t, but Tucker seems to make an extra effort and when he talks, people listen. 

12:30 Players who might be off the radar but Houston fans are enjoying this season. Austin Rivers has stepped up off the bench. 

14:30 On Carmelo Anthony. He can still play, he will be extra fire power. It might be that he didn’t fit in with Houston because he liked the midrange. Portland will be able to make the most of Anthony. 

18:00 Coty is a big fan of Damian Lillard and believes that the Trail Blazers will be fine. 

Find Coty @cotydavis_24

Follow us on Twitter @blazersedge @DMarang @tcbbiggs 

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