Portland Trail Blazers most important game of 2019-20 is today
As the NBA resumes play in its Orlando, Florida bubble, the Portland Trail Blazers open their final eight-game stretch with a “Do or Die” matchup.
When the NBA was first hatching their return to play idea, Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard said he wouldn’t play in meaningless games. He has his wish. No contest the Portland Trail Blazers have played all season is vital as the one they play Friday afternoon.
Friday begins their final eight games of the 2019-20 regular season. Currently, the Portland Trail Blazers find themselves in ninth place in the Western Conference. They are three-and-a-half games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the eight and final West playoff spot.
Just on its face, this game is vital. If the Blazers lose, Portland would be four-and-a-half back with seven games remaining. That would be an almost impossible mountain to climb. But as Keith Morrisson of NBC Dateline often says, there is more to this story, so much more.
In a tough spot
According to the NBA and their modified bubble rules:
If the team with the eighth-best record in its conference is four games or fewer ahead of the team with the ninth-best record in the same conference, then we’ll have a battle for the final spot between those two teams. The tournament will basically be a best-of-two series — where the No. 9 seed will have to win two head-to-head matchups to take over the No. 8 spot.
Not only does Portland need to win on Friday to close the gap, they most likely need to win to have a slim chance at the play-in series. There is a four-team chase pack behind the Portland Trail Blazers. The Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs, and Phoenix Suns are all within two-and-a-half games of the Blazers.
Three of their next four games after Friday are against the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, and Los Angeles Clippers. Three teams with a combined 127-66 record and .658 winning percentage. A loss to Memphis on Friday afternoon could send Portland off a cliff.
So Portland Trail Blazers fans now is the time for optimism. It doesn’t matter that Portland dropped the matchup these teams had this year, 111-104, on February 12 in Memphis. The circumstances have considerably changed since then. Lillard is a fierce competitor, as is Carmello Anthony. Both Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins are back from their injuries after missing all and most of the season, respectively. The team is playing for its survival, and that makes them dangerous. Tip-off is at 1:00 PDT, an odd time for such an important game on NBATV.
How do you feel about the Portland Trail Blazers chances of winning Friday’s game against Memphis? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.