Portland Trail Blazers: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season

The Portland Trail Blazers finished 2017-18 with a 49-33 record, but had an early exit from the playoffs. What are five things we can take away from this season?

The Portland Trail Blazers‘ 2017-18 season came to an end last weekend when they were swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the New Orleans Pelicans.

You can divide Portland’s season into three phases. The first phase consisted of a stagnant 22-21 start. The Blazers kicked into a higher gear in the second phase, going 25-8 from Jan. 16 through the end of March. This stretch included a 13-game winning streak from Feb. 14 through March 18. The streak is tied for second-longest in franchise history.

Then the third phase arrived and the Blazers began to struggle. Portland went 2-4 to close out the season, including going 0-4 on their final road trip of the year. The slump carried over into the playoffs, where things ultimately fell apart.

All told, the Blazers finished the season 49-33. That record netted some pretty significant accomplishments. It earned them the Northwest Division title and home-court advantage in the playoffs — Portland’s first time doing both since 2014-15. Rip City also secured the third seed in the playoffs, their best conference finish since 1999-00.

Portland also improved defensively. The Blazers finished the year with a 104.2 defensive rating, a major improvement from their 107.8 rating in 2016-17. Their year-to-year ranking jumped from 21st to eighth as a result.

Blazer fans and players alike were “shocked” by their sweep in the playoffs. Now the organization has a number of roster and financial questions they need to answer this summer. What are five things we can take away from this up-and-down campaign?