3 reasons the Portland Trail Blazers still have a shot at the playoffs

Strength of schedule.

The Portland Trail Blazers have 26 regular-season games left this season. Of these games, 15 of these are at home at the Moda Center. This means they have 11 games away and six of these are in a road swing from March 22 to March 30.

They also have four games out of five away from home from February 27 through to March 6. This means they also have three stretches of three games or more in a row at home. These are tremendous opportunities to build momentum.

The first of these stretches is straight after All-Star break. They play the New Orleans Pelicans, the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics. Even if Lillard is out for any of these games, the Trail Blazers need to take two of these to keep in touch with the Grizzlies

The next stretch is a six-game homestand where the Trail Blazers play the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks. They need to win at least four of these games, including the Grizzlies game here.

The final stretch is a four-game homestand. They play the Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers, Grizzlies and the Denver Nuggets. They need to win at least three of these games.

This then comes to the other point of the schedule. The Trail Blazers play playoff-bound teams 12 times out of the 26 remaining games. This is a much easier schedule than the one faced by the Grizzlies. They play 12 home games out of the 27 they have left.

They do not play more than two games in a row at home but have three stretches of games where they play three or more in a row away. They also play 17 teams who are current playoff seeds.