The Portland Trail Blazers are entering the most important stretch of their season
The bump in the road
If the Trail Blazers cannot have success during this home stand then their playoff chances are all but over. However, there is a bullish feel about them, especially with Lillard back. This means there is every chance they will still be in contention when they take on the six-game road trip to end the month
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They start on the West coast, taking on the Timberwolves before spending the next five games in the Eastern Conference. They start out against two non-playoff teams in the Charlotte Hornets and the Detroit Pistons.
After this, they take on the Boston Celtics, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets, all playoff seeds in the East. They need to take three of these six games so they can stay somewhere near the .500 mark.
This is a crucial number as the Grizzlies are sitting at .500 on the season, With their tough run home, they will surely dip below that number. One thing that will help is the Trail Blazers will be facing a 76ers team potentially without Ben Simmons and a Nets team which is missing its main stars.
However, there is a snag, the Blazers have an 11-22 record on the road for the season. Only winning two fo the six road games puts them right back where they started. That is how close the race for eighth is in the West, they simply cannot afford any slip-ups if they want playoff action.