Portland Trail Blazers
Games Back From Eighth Place: 1.5
Key Strength: Dynamic Backcourt
Key Weakness: Defense
It’s still amazing to me that Portland has gone this long without righting the ship enough to claim the final spot in the Western Conference playoff mix. Given how well they played last season, their incredible backcourt duo and their exceptional coach, I’ve thought for weeks that they would finally surge their way back in.
Nevertheless, the Blazers continue to struggle to find any kind of consistency and still find themselves in 10th place in the conference, 1.5 games out of playoff contention.
And though Portland was able to give Golden State some trouble last season in the playoffs, winning one game and hanging tough in a couple others, they certainly haven’t been much of an obstacle this season. Golden State swept the regular season series 4-0 against Portland, with the first two victories coming in extreme blowout fashion.
In the latter two, Portland was able to compete somewhat better, losing by eight and two points, respectively, but overall the Blazers have been thoroughly outmatched.
Of course, the one glimmer of hope that Portland has is their electric backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Those two are not only phenomenal NBA players, but have the confidence and swagger to believe themselves capable of knocking out Golden State. Unfortunately, while those two may be able to do some damage themselves, the lackluster talent around them makes Portland less than daunting.
Post-All-Star Winning Percentage: 💯 pic.twitter.com/2Juslcur0M
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) February 24, 2017
Not to mention, Portland as a team, including that dynamic backcourt duo, has been absolutely dismal defensively this year allowing opponents to put up 110 points per game.
And that is an absolute recipe for disaster against a Warriors team that thrives offensively, leading the league in both points and field goal percentage. Although Portland has some solid scorers of their own, their inability to put the clamps on and force Golden State to execute under pressure would likely make them easy slaughter in a seven-game series.
And while none of these teams have much of a shot against Golden State, in terms of at least wearing down the Warriors prior to a potential second-round match-up against the Jazz, Portland’s soft defense would do little to accomplish even that.