After back-to-back wins, the Portland Trail Blazers set out for a road trip against some of the Western Conference’s finest. How can they conquer the week?
The Portland Trail Blazers had a pretty successful weekend at the Moda Center. On Friday they throttled the Atlanta Hawks, 110-89. It was Portland’s second-largest win of the season and helped them exact revenge on a team that bested them only six days prior.
They then followed that up on Sunday with a nail-biting 111-110 victory over the shorthanded San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs were without Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, Rudy Gay and Danny Green. However, they still had LaMarcus Aldridge, Manu Ginobili and their competitive spirit. That combination pushed the Blazers to brink. However, Rip City still pulled off the win.
With a 2-0 homestand complete, the Blazers now embark on a four-game road trip. They will face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder (Jan. 9), Houston Rockets (Jan. 10), New Orleans Pelicans (Jan. 12) and Minnesota Timberwolves (Jan. 14).
Statistically, this will be the Blazers’ toughest trip of the entire season. Of their eight road trips that last at least three games, only two of them solely consist of teams that are currently playoff-bound. This trip is the longer of the two. The other one is a three-gamer in February that features the Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons.
The Blazers have already faced each upcoming opponent at least once this season. They are 2-3 against them combined. Portland won their sole game against Oklahoma City, lost their only games to Houston and Minnesota and split two games with New Orleans.
It should also be noted that the Blazers have performed better on the road this year. They are 10-10 at the Moda Center but 11-8 outside from Portland.
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A lot has to go right for the Blazers to successfully compete on this road trip. Damian Lillard‘s health will be one of the those major keys. Lillard has been dealing with a calf injury since their Dec. 20 loss to the Spurs. Since then, he has only played two of the team’s last eight games.
Lillard did get some playing time this weekend, scoring 14 points, dishing out six assists and swiping two steals in the Hawks game. However, he sat out the Spurs game as a precautionary measure. Hopefully he will be ready to go after three days of rest between his last game and the start of this trip.
Even when Lillard returns, Shabazz Napier will have to continue his productive ways to keep Portland competitive. He reeled off 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the win over the Spurs. Napier also went on a seven-game double-digit scoring streak recently, the longest of his career. The Blazers sorely need that type of production, whether he is starting or coming off the bench.
Lastly, Maurice Harkless has to return to being the X-factor he was last season. We covered the production issues he’s had for much of this year. However, he has recently had some strong outings.
Harkless picked up 19 points on Sunday against the Spurs and had 22 points in a Dec. 23 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. With four playoff contenders coming up on the schedule, now would be a great time for him to get back on track.
While the task seems daunting, Damian Lillard told reporters on Jan. 4 during media availability that he was optimistic about the team’s progress.
"“Based on how our team is mentally – and I think we’re going in the right direction – I don’t see, regardless of who we’re playing, home or on the road, I don’t see us going out there and just laying an egg. I feel like we’re going to attack it and I feel like we’re going to have a good stretch.”"
From there they blew out the worst team in the NBA and went to the final seconds against a shorthanded title contender. And both games were at home.
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Now a new test commences on Tuesday. We’ll see how the Portland Trail Blazers square up against some of the Western Conference’s best in their arenas.