4. Standings in the Western Conference
Despite losing to the first-place Rockets, the Blazers still hold a two-game lead over the fourth-placed Oklahoma City Thunder in standings. The Blazers were able to get some space between them and the other teams in the West by rattling off 13 wins in a row. So losing to the Rockets does not hurt them in the standings.
It helped that the Thunder lost to the Boston Celtics, 100-99, on Tuesday night. The loss snapped the Thunder’s six-game winning streak and they are now only a half-game away from falling to fifth place.
Here are the current Western Conference standings with 11 games to go in the Blazers’ season:
- Houston Rockets: 57-14. GB: 0
- Golden State Warriors: 53-18. GB: 4
- Portland Trail Blazers: 44-27. GB: 13
- Oklahoma City Thunder: 43-30. GB:15
- New Orleans Pelicans: 42-30. GB: 15.5
- San Antonio Spurs: 42-30. GB: 15.5
- Minnesota Timberwolves: 41-31. GB: 16.5
- Utah Jazz: 40-31. GB: 17
The Blazers play the shorthanded Celtics in Portland on Friday night. Then they play the Thunder on Sunday, who the Blazers have beaten three times.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for Rip City, but they are playing good basketball and a have a chance to lock up the third seed with just a couple more wins. Losing to the Rockets and having their winning streak snapped at 13 is disappointing. but they were lucky by not having it affect their playoff standing.