The Portland Trail Blazers are 46-29 and own the third seed in the Western Conference. The Blazers only have a few games left in the season but have a chance to win 50 games.
When LaMarcus Aldridge left in 2015 NBA free agency for the San Antonio Spurs, the Portland Trail Blazers rehauled their roster by letting go of some key players. They decided to build around C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard and sign young players in free agency to match their star’s career arc.
The Blazers were supposed to be a rebuilding team the next few seasons, but instead, they have made the playoffs each of the last two seasons, including a first round series win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Blazers have been to the playoffs four years in a row and are looking to continue the streak to five this season. They own the third-best record in the West and have been playing elite basketball since the second half of the season.
With seven games left in the season, the Blazers have a shot to win 50 games for the first time since 2014. They only won 41 games last year and have made drastic improvements in 2017-18. ESPN‘s early season projections had the Blazers only winning 43 games this year and finishing 10th in the West. Before the season, nobody thought they would have a top record in the NBA, but here they are.
The Blazers’ path to 50
The Blazers’ quest for 50 these last games will not come easy. Here are the remaining games for Rip City:
March 30: vs. L.A. Clippers (41-41)
April 1: vs. Memphis Grizzlies (21-54)
April 3: @ Dallas Mavericks (23-32)
April 5: @ Houston Rockets (61-14)
April 7: @ San Antonio Spurs (43-32)
April 9: @ Denver Nuggets (40-35)
April 11: vs. Utah Jazz (42-32)
The Blazers have three games against playoff teams and two games against teams that are on the verge of getting into the playoffs. They need to win against the Nuggets and the Jazz to tie the season series with those teams. They need to win against the Spurs and Clippers to win the season series. If the Blazers have a rough stretch to end the season, losing tiebreakers will come back to hurt them. There will be no games off for Portland.
The Blazers should win the games against the “bad” teams in the Grizzlies, Mavericks and a Clippers team they’ve beaten twice already. That gets them to 49 wins. I see the Blazers beating the Spurs and Nuggets, and that gets them to 51 wins.
The games against the Rockets and Jazz are going to be competitive matchups that could go either way, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blazers win both those games, going 7-0 over these last games to finish the season 53-29.
Finishing the season strong
Because Portland has been a top team and has MVP candidate Damian Lillard playing at a high level, it should be able to win at least four or five of these last seven games. The Blazers could run into a situation where a team like the Rockets are already focused on the playoffs and may not put forth their full effort.
If a team like the Jazz, Clippers or Nuggets are fighting for their playoffs lives and bring a lot more energy than the Blazers, they could sneak out wins. Or, if they know they’re out of the playoffs, they might not play as hard. Those type of situations depend on how the standings are looking. Right now, there is no clarity in the West and probably won’t be any for another week or so.
The Blazers have to finish the season on a high note so they don’t plummet in the standings and have to play the Golden State Warriors or the Rockets in the first round.
The first round matchup for the Blazers is not going to be easy by any means. They will most likely play either the Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans or Utah Jazz. But if Portland locks up the third seed, it will have home-court advantage against those teams.
Out of all those teams, the Blazers’ best option for the first round would be the facing the Pelicans or the Spurs without Kawhi Leonard. The Blazers can hopefully avoid playing the Timberwolves and Jazz.
Portland has an excellent opportunity to establish itself as an elite team in the NBA this year and for the future years. Being able to win 50 games with this roster, and making some noise in the playoffs should be enough for a top player somewhere in the league to think about coming to Portland and joining Lillard and McCollum.
Next: 2017-18 Week 24 NBA Power Rankings
If the Blazers don’t get to 50 wins on the season, I think there will be a little disappointment from the team and the fans because of how close they were to achieve it. Surpassing 50 wins on the season would be a huge accomplishment for this Blazers team, which has the third-youngest roster in the NBA. Regardless of whether they hit 50 wins, the Blazers have had a fantastic season and will be a threat in West this season and for years to come.