Portland Trail Blazers: 3 goals for their playoff run

Portland Trail Blazers playoffs goal No. 1: Move the ball

The Trail Blazers were the worst team in the league last season for moving the ball, averaging only 21.3 assists per game. This is a little better than last seasons’ number but it still points to the Blazers playing too much hero ball which is not going to help them advance.

Lillard and McCollum make a lot of shots for themselves, and this makes the Trail Blazers reasonably predictable. However, predictable and easy to stop are two different things. The Blazers were sixth in the league, shooting 38.5 percent from deep as a team.

However, the Blazers are bottom three in the league for field goal percentage from inside the arc. This is helped by the fact that the Blazers are third in the league for offensive rebounds. This has kept them in the hunt for the playoffs but against the top teams, it is not going to be enough.

If they can move the ball more, then they will get the defense to move more, allowing for a greater ability to get open looks. If they can’t do this then it is going to be hard to win a seven-game series to get out of the Western Conference.