The Portland Trail Blazers went 2-1 on their three-game road trip. What does that mean for their push for home-court advantage in the 2018 NBA Playoffs?
The 2017-18 regular season is winding down. However, the fight for playoff seeding in both conferences is raging on. Every win is crucial, so teams in the hunt can not let up in these closing weeks. The Portland Trail Blazers adhered to this fact, for the most part, on their recent three-game road trip.
The Blazers went 2-1 on their all-Western Conference voyage. This is a positive development after entering the road-stand coming off of smarting losses to the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics. Portland pulled off key wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, 108-105, and the New Orleans Pelicans, 107-103.
Unfortunately, Rip City couldn’t conquer the dreaded second game of a back-to-back. The Blazers fell to the 21-54 Memphis Grizzlies in their final game of the trip, 108-103.
Naturally, All-Star guard Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers in scoring during the trip. He averaged 32.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game. Lillard shot a brutal 1-for-7 from 3-point range in the Thunder game. However, he still managed to tough out 24 points by going 5-for-12 inside the arc and a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line.
Lillard’s biggest on-court achievement on the trip was his 20 points in the fourth quarter against New Orleans. His effort helped Portland overcome a 75-71 deficit after three quarters. All told, Lillard finished with 41 points on that evening.
But something much more important happened to Damian Lillard off the court. He missed the team’s game in Memphis to witness the birth of his first child. He will likely return at some point over the weekend, giving him plenty of time to bask in a wonderful life moment.
Damian Lillard said he found out his girlfriend was in labor after the game, when there was a message waiting for him: "Get home."
— Joe Freeman (@BlazerFreeman) March 28, 2018
"I'm excited," he said, wearing a big grin. "Been waiting."
C.J. McCollum had a net positive road trip. He averaged 27.7 points and 4.7 assists over three games. McCollum also shot an impressive 40.9 percent from beyond the arc. His 34 points against Oklahoma City helped stave off a Thunder team that kept finding its way back in the game, recovering from Blazer leads as large as 18 points.
McCollum struggled mightily against New Orleans, registering only seven points on 3-for-19 shooting. However, he bounced back in Memphis by posting 42 points in the losing effort. It is only the third time in McCollum’s career that he has scored 40 or more points.
Jusuf Nurkic was the most consistently productive and efficient Blazer of the road trip. He averaged 16.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks over the three games, shooting 69.7 percent from the field. Nurkic posted double-doubles in the first two games, dropping 17 points and 12 rebounds against OKC and 21 points and 10 rebounds on New Orleans. He now maintains an active seven-game double-digit scoring streak following his 12-point output against Memphis.
Outside of the Big Three, though, the Trail Blazers were hard-pressed to find consistent help. Maurice Harkless scored 16 points and blocked four shots against the Thunder. Unfortunately, he was ruled out the following game with a sore left knee. That became the rest of the regular season on Wednesday when he underwent a left knee arthroscopy.
In Harkless’ stead, Evan Turner scored 14 points against the Pelicans, but only had five points against Memphis. Instead, Wade Baldwin stepped into the spotlight against the Grizzlies, scoring a career-high 15 points.
In the end, the non-Big 3 Blazers collectively shot 36.4 percent from the field during the road trip.
Nevertheless, Portland remains third in the West. The Blazers’ 46-29 record puts them two games ahead of fourth-place Oklahoma City. Also, according to PlayoffStatus.com, it puts them two games away from clinching a playoff berth and five games from securing home-court advantage in the first round.
Rip City’s remaining schedule is of average difficulty, the seventh-easiest in the conference. Their opponents hold a combined .529 winning percentage. The docket includes a rematch with the Grizzlies on Easter Sunday and a four-game road trip that features a visit to all three Texas teams and the Denver Nuggets.
Next: 2017-18 Week 24 NBA Power Rankings
The Portland Trail Blazers have accomplished a lot in 2017-18, already securing their best season in three years, but the race isn’t over yet. Even with their setback in Memphis, Portland is still in the driver’s seat in its push for favorable playoff seeding.