Memphis has now won 4 straight and OKC 5 straight. The only realistic spot available for Portland, Denver, Dallas, and New Orleans is the 8th spot. Portland now sits with a 2 game lead on Dallas and a three and a half game lead on New Orleans. Some GANGA Dim Witted Poster on here said i was delusional thinking this team could go 3-2 on the 5 game road trip. Specifically telling me that they "Could easily go 1-4 on this road trip" My response was "they could also TOUGHLY go 4-1". Guess what? 4-1 it is! It's interesting situation the Blazers are in. Like usual you will see both the top teams and those that don't seem to be effected by remaining wins rest a few players. Teams for certain are GS, Spurs, and Houston. However the Clippers OKC and Memphis are all in a tight race. Of course all of them would love to draw a 4-5 matchup with the Jazz over falling to a 7-2 matchup against the Spurs. I actually think the way Houston is playing they are a tough draw. The Blazers do play Denver but they also play Houston and Utah twice. They have a game vs San Antonio here that will most likely be a resting game for the Spurs. They also have that extra Minnesota make up game on the road with a Jazz game on a B2B. If the Blazers can take care of Home court they can go 10-3 the remainder of the season. i think a fairly reasonable number would be 8-5 which puts them at 40-42. Quite a nice run to end a season. This is the way you want to go into the playoffs if you do get there. Playing well and winning games. I think it was wiffy that said "Nobody told them they weren't supposed to win". How long has it been since an 8th beat a #1 seed? I hope you are all having as much fun as i am watching this team come back in a season i thought was pretty much over. If ever there was a time to have fun it would be now.
this team has resurrected since Nurkic came in and while its probably not all cause of him, I strongly believe big part is.. for example, he brought energy to this team, excitement and a breath of fresh air among the fans, and two players his coming has impacted most, are Harkless and Vonleh, but ofc theres Dame Dolla, who is largely profiting from Nurk screens and pnr plays were hot right know, playing great and given our remaining schedule, I believe were favorites for that 8th seed, lot of home games till the end, and hopefully Nurk fever wont shoot down the atmosphere in Moda Center hehe
Dame and CJ were scoring before...Nurkic is the difference. He brings some defense and on offense, the Blazers are so much more balance. Plus, his energy and toughness seems to have rubbed off on Vonleh who is on a torrid shooting streak.
I was on tank camp a few weeks ago when it looked like we could realistically land no. 6 - no. 8 pick as landing an elite talent like Isaac, Johnson or Tatum might have been better long term than a series against Warriors but we've been playing great lately and could actually scare the current Warriors team if we met them in playoffs, plus it makes little difference to me if we get no. 16 pick (which we will if we make playoffs as we will have done so with the worst record of all playoffs teams) or no. 12 pick. It looks like that Memphis pick could fall to ca. 20-21 range so we could probably easily consolidate both ours and their pick for something like 9-10, or consolidate a player plus pick to move up a few spots. I want that playoffs spot. Having some proper basketball in April/May would be awesome. If Nurkic and Dame are on fire we will actually stand a chance to cause a shock.
The toughness for sure. They all know they got the biggest baddest player on the court now and they are playing that way. Toughness breeds toughness. Nurk hits hard and gets hit but still keeps going.
Well maybe not increased but certainly changed. The thing is they know they have a rim protector. He also clogs the lane and makes opponents alter their shots. Now the perimeter players can take chances. They can do little things that they would not have done before. they can also get into the middle of the passing lanes and cherry pick passes. Help defense is now easier because mismatches don't hurt quite so bad. So yes i can see where you would say they increased their defensive effort but really the way i see it is they simply have more options now on how to defend.
I waffled a bit a few weeks back, and was thinking the tank wouldn't be so bad. Not anymore. 8th place sounds great to me....
Everyone had a reason (when using logic and reality) to be down on this team... they were consistently inconsistent and showed no identity. Now, everyone has a reason to be excited about this team for the foreseeable future. Thank god.
Since the team now seems bound and determined to get into the playoffs; I support them in that endeavor. Earlier I wasn't sure if they were really determined to do that.
I wanted that pick when it looked like it was going to be in the top ten, but now that it's going to be mid teens either way, may as well make the playoffs and laugh at Denver for allowing it to happen.
The one option they have improved on is attempting to stay in front of their man on the perimeter. That's effort
When Jufus plays and isn't on the bench in foul trouble, he's a bigger help than any Blazer center Dame or CJ has played with. They have to improve or Jusuf can't help them. They got the message: protect their big guy, or you have to play with Meyers!
I like the optimism of your thread title. The 8th spot isn't the only one available. The 9th and 10th spots are still up for grabs, but I like that you only focused on available playoff spots. That's the attitude of a winner. BNM
I want to make the playoffs, but won't lose too much sleep if we don't. This is a 50+ win team if we had Nurkic all season. I feel good about where the team is headed either way.
