Where Things Stood: When things hit the wall on March 11th, the Portland TrailBlazers were on the outside looking in at 29-37 and 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies. A far cry from the team that made it to the Western Conference Finals a season ago, the Blazers need to thank their lucky stars that they are in the NBA’s Western Conference, a conference that had more winning and/or respectable potential in their records, which with the special 22-team playoff setup, gives Damian Lillard the fighting chance to make some noise in the 2019-20 postseason. Lillard had dangled the concept of sitting out the specially-created postseason if the Blazers had no chance of winning. I personally mused that without Lillard, ‘no chance’ was all but certain. WIth him in the fold, I like their chances much better.
What’s Coming Up: If you’re an optimist, redemption. And when Portland was in Atlanta early in 2020, I got to see Jusuf Nurkic work out, hopeful then that he would get in a few licks. No such luck, but I’m hoping that the year-plus off have given the Trailblazers the secret weapon they need to advance this year, and might have made the difference against the Golden State Warriors last year. A 14 point, eight rebound performance against the Indiana Pacers in an Orlando scrimmage wasn’t enough to propel the Blazers to a win, but gives Portland fans more good news than they have in their downtown area right now.
Game 1: Memphis Grizzlies – One way to start the bubble tourney off right would be to defeat the team that was ahead of Portland when the shortened season went on hiatus. These two teams last got to feel each other out in Memphis back in mid-February, with the Grizzlies winning by seven, the middle game of a three game skid that was sandwiched by losses to the New Orleans Pelicans. Righting the ship must be on the Blazers’ minds because this eight-game schedule is a tough row to hoe.
Game 2: Boston Celtics – A huge potential for their first loss in what will be four very tough games; could be four losses in a row and push the Blazers out of contention for any playoff basketball. Not the way you want to end this season, with another thud like last season. The Celtics defeated the Blazers in Portland on February 25th and never got the second game of the season series at TD Garden in Boston. C.J. McCollum was a shining star in both the game versus Boston and the February 12th loss versus Memphis. McCollum is talented, but definitely not enough.
Game 3: Houston Rockets – Another tough draw, especially when Russell Westbrook is healthy.You may remember that Russ tested positive for the CoronaVirus, but has cleared team protocols and is practicing with the Rockets, and from what I have seen, is looking unfazed from the effects of the virus. That’s bad news if you’re talking to the McCollum-led team that was squashed by the Rockets by 24 in November. But if you’re speaking to the Lillard-led Blazers that posted two double digit wins against Houston in the month of January, then good news – Portland may have an upset here. Lillard combined for 61 in those two games and even had a single game 61 in between. Trouble is, if his game’s on, James Harden can drop 61 as well.
Game 4: Denver Nuggets – The Nuggets are always tough. A team that handed the Blazers their opening night loss, put 15 points on ‘em in another loss in Denver in December, and then crushed them again – by 28 on February 4th – one might say this is a guaranteed loss. Hopefully Nurkic remembers a few things about the Denver offense that might give him a banner night against his former teammates. But I’m fairly sure this is another loss, maybe even another blowout.
Game 5: Los Angeles Clippers – ‘That other team in L.A.’ ate Portland’s lunch not once, but twice before 2019 even ended. Mind you, this was a Clippers team that was going through the first half of the season without either Paul George or without Kawhi Leonard – rarely were the two on court together, especially early in the season. They will most definitely be there in the bubble, but they’ve never seen Nurkic before. The matchup between him and Montrezl Harrell could be brutal.
Game 6: Philadelphia 76ers – If Harrell doesn’t wear Nurkic out, Joel Embiid will – that is, if Embiid can resist the long range threes to actually play center. He’ll need to if Nurkic is on his game. Another team that Portland didn’t get to see a second time, they’ll have the chance to avenge a one point loss to the Sixers from opening week. I think Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons torch the Blazers.
Game 7: Dallas Mavericks – It’s going to be tough to bring the juice after the grueling schedule of Portland first six games. Then you have to face the Slovenian sniper, the Matador, Cool Hand Luka, The Don, the Wonder Boy, Swaggy L – Luka Doncic. He can draw you out into the open and then assassinate you from wherever he wants, shooting 46.1 percent and averaging 28.7 points a night, then kick it out to the tune of 8.7 dimes. Nurkic will have to do better than the eight rebounds he had against Indiana to win over Boban Marjanovic, Doncic, and the Mavericks.
Game 8: Brooklyn Nets – I’m giving this one to the Blazers, and not just because they lost to Brooklyn back on November 8th, despite 60 from Lillard. There’s no Kyrie Irving in this mix, so the team is left to lean on Caris LeVert and not Spencer Dinwiddie, who tested positive for COVID-19. DeAndre Jordan did as well, which means that Sean Marks threw out all that money for nothing … hope his chicks are free. I expect Lillard and McCollum to combine for 100 in this mess of a game.
Prediction: You may ask why I haven’t included Carmelo Anthony in any of this piece. It’s because I believe his role diminishes with the return of Nurkic, especially if Terry Stotts can find a way for Nurkic and Hassan Whiteside can dominate the paint together. Also, watch Anthony’s body language when the team begins to lose games. The pout, the hero ball, the disengagement that have plagued the majority of Anthony’s NBA career will come racing back. The Blazers have their work cut out for them. Nothing, but the Brooklyn game, is a gimme. They will finish 3-5, and two of those wins will be hard-earned. There will be a lot of rumination about what could have been … much like the end of last season. Portland has to find a way to stay healthy and become elite. Not sure that happens under Neil Olshey. In fact, he and Anthony may ride off into the NBA sunset as New York Knicks … but that’s a story for another day and time.
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Tracy Graven is a Senior NBA Analyst for BackSportsPage.com.
He has written the NBA, and done NBA radio, for the last two decades for HoopsWorld, Swish Magazine, and HoopsHype, the Coach Scott Fields Show and NBARadioShow.com, and is also tackling the NFL, NCAA, and will be pinch-hitting on some Major League Baseball coverage for BackSportsPage.
He’s spent 20 years in locker rooms in
- Orlando
- Boise (G League)
- San Antonio
- Phoenix
- Denver
- Oklahoma City
- Atlanta
A corporate trainer by day, he currently resides in SEC Country near Knoxville, Tennessee.
Reach him on Twitter at @RealTMoneyMedia
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