Portland Trail Blazers: Looking at the West playoff contenders in a different light
Portland Trail Blazers
- Record: 32–38, 0.5 games behind the eighth seed.
- Magic Number to eliminate Sacramento and New Orleans: 2
- Magic Number to eliminate San Antonio and Phoenix: 3
- Future Opponents: L.A. Clippers, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Brooklyn.
- Opponents combined winning percentage: .598
- Opponents combined bubble winning percentage: .467
- Pressure factor: 3. Other than the Mavs, their opponents have seeding battles to fight. In Brooklyn’s case, it’s avoiding the Greek Freak in round one.
- Schedule difficulty x intensity: 4.60
The return of big men Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins has completely transformed how teams defend the Portland Trail Blazers. On top of that, Damian Lillard (11 made threes vs. Denver on Thursday), C.J. McCollum, and 6th Man of the Bubble candidate Gary Trent Jr. have been lighting it up from the outside. Finally, Carmelo Anthony has stepped into a time machine and is playing close to “Melo-Classic” basketball.
The Blazers have looked as good as any team in Orlando. Portland still has a gauntlet to run, but at least they have a little breathing room. Just making the play-in game isn’t good enough. It’s eighth seed or bust. Let one of the other contending teams try and beat the Portland Trail Blazers twice in a row. It’s not happening. The top-seeded Lakers should be a little worried about a potential first-round matchup with Terry Stotts’ team.
The Clippers won’t be easy, but Portland is on a roll. Game two against Philly is the toughest because of how physical they play. Winning one of the two contests sets them up nicely for the remainder of the regular season.
Memphis Grizzlies
- Record: 32–37, eighth place.
- Magic Number to eliminate Sacramento, New Orleans, San Antonio (by .001 percentage point), and Phoenix (via head-to-head tiebreaker): 2
- Future Opponents: Oklahoma City, Toronto, Boston, and Milwaukee.
- Opponents combined winning percentage: .705
- Opponents combined bubble winning percentage: .643
- Pressure factor: 1. Only OKC is still fighting for a better seed.
- Schedule difficulty x intensity: 1.99
This situation is the complete opposite of what New Orleans is facing. What looked like a Herculean task has changed. After Oklahoma on Friday night, it could be all downhill until the play-in series. The Grizzlies face the top three teams in the east, but their seeds are set. How many minutes will the starters see?
How do you think the Portland Trail Blazers stack up in the playoff race? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.