Portland Trail Blazers: Looking at the last 24 games of the season

Now that the NBA All-Star game has passed, it’s time for teams and players to get back to business and try to finish their season on a high note. The Portland Trail Blazers have 24 games left to solidify themselves as a playoff team in the Western Conference

Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard represented Rip City in Los Angeles over the weekend in the 2018 NBA All-Star Game and scored 21 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished out two assists.

Lillard had a hot streak of games before the All-Star break, played well in the All-Star game and now will look to continue his recent success heading into the home stretch of the season.

Portland is currently 32-26 and tied with the Denver Nuggets for sixth place in the West. Both Portland and Denver are 12.5 games back from the first place Houston Rockets.

The Western Conference playoff picture is a tight one this year for seeds 3-8, and there are even two teams on the outside looking in that could be playoff teams.

Current standings in the West

1. Houston Rockets: 44-13. GB: 0
2. Golden State Warriors: 44-14. GB: 0.5
3. San Antonio Spurs: 35-24. GB: 10
4. Minnesota Timberwolves: 36-25. GB: 10
5. Oklahoma City Thunder: 33-26. GB: 12
6. Denver Nuggets: 32-26. GB: 12.5
7. Portland Trail Blazers: 32-26. GB: 12.5
8. New Orleans Pelicans: 31-26. GB: 13
9. L.A Clippers: 30-26. GB: 13.5
10. Utah Jazz: 30-28. GB: 14.5

If Portland gets hot and the three teams in front of them slip up a little bit, the Blazers could find themselves in third or fourth place going into the playoffs. It’s the same situation for the other eight teams trying to make the playoffs. If one team gets hot, it could really make some noise this last part of the season.

This last month of the season is an important one because no team wants to finish seventh or eighth and then have to face Houston or Golden State in the first round. Portland experienced a first-round sweep by the Warriors in last year’s playoffs and would like to avoid a similar situation this season.

The Blazers have 24 games left this season and are going to be playing against some of the best teams in the NBA.

They play 24 games in 49 days, which averages out to about two days between each game. They have four back-to-backs, multiple sets of three games in five days, and will face 17 playoff contending teams and seven noncontending teams.

Here is a closer look at the remaining 24 games.

Home games

Of the remaining 24 games, 13 of them will be played at the Moda Center.

Home stats:

• 105.4 PPG
• 46.1 FG%
• 38.8 3P%
• 81.6 FT%
• 44.3 RPG
• 19.1 APG
• 14.2 TOV
• 6.5 SPG
• 4.5 BPG

Portland has struggled a bit at home compared to the past. They started the season 7-10 at the Moda Center and ended up losing six straight games at home. The Blazers got a win on Dec. 28 against the Philadelphia 76ers to get back on track and that was the start of a nine-game winning streak at home.

The Blazers are now 17-11 inside the Moda Center and will have some tough opponents coming to Portland to finish out the season.

Here are the 13 home games Portland will be playing:

• Feb 27. Sacramento Kings
• Mar 1. Minnesota Timberwolves
• Mar 3. Oklahoma City Thunder
• Mar 6. New York Knicks
• Mar 9. Golden State Warriors
• Mar 12. Miami Heat
• Mar 15. Cleveland Cavaliers
• Mar 17. Detroit Pistons
• Mar 20. Houston Rockets
• Mar 23. Boston Celtics
• Mar 30. Los Angeles Clippers
• Apr 1. Memphis Grizzlies
• Apr 11. Utah Jazz

The Timberwolves, Thunder, Warriors, Heat, Cavs, Rockets and Celtics are all teams that will make the playoffs. The Jazz, Clippers and Pistons are three solid basketball teams that could easily find their way into the playoffs.

Those 10 teams will be very competitive games for the Blazers, but it’s very beneficial for them that they get to be in front of their fans for these big games. Portland needs to win some of these hard games if they want to be a competing playoff team.

Away games

Portland has 11 away games left this season, and seven of those games are against competitive teams, including two back-to-backs.

Away stats:

• 104.6 PPG
• 44.7 FG%
• 37 3P%
• 79.1 FT%
• 45.5 RPG
• 19.1 APG
• 13.9 TOV
• 7.2 SPG
• 5.7 BPG

Portland has always just been somewhat decent on the road, and is 15-15 this season. While Rip City was struggling early on in the season at home, it was winning games on the road. The Blazers went 11-7 the first two months of the season.

Here are the 11 road games the Blazers have left this season:

• Feb 23. Utah Jazz
• Feb 24. Phoenix Suns
• Mar 5. Los Angeles Lakers
• Mar 18. Los Angeles Clippers
• Mar 25. Oklahoma City Thunder
• Mar 27. New Orleans Pelicans
• Mar 28. Memphis Grizzlies
• Apr 3. Dallas Mavericks
• Apr 5. Houston Rockets
• Apr 7. San Antonio Spurs
• Apr 9. Denver Nuggets

Portland needs to win the away games against the Suns, Lakers, Mavericks and Grizzlies. They can’t afford to lose those games at this point of the season because their schedule is too tough for any bad losses.

Next: 2018 NBA Draft - The best team for each top prospect

If the Blazers want to be a top-four team in the West, they will have to win some of their harder games during this last part of the NBA season.