What the Trail Blazers must do to win in the NBA Playoffs

With the NBA playoffs right around the corner, it can be easy to overlook the Portland Trail Blazers’ remaining regular season games. Make no mistake, though, these last games still matter. The Blazers have a chance to secure home court advantage, and if they can earn it, it will go a long way toward helping them succeed in the playoffs.

If we do allow ourselves to peer a bit into the future, however, we should look at a few things the Blazers would have to do get past the first round:

Mar 27, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum (88) dribbles against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. The Trail Blazers won the game 87-81. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Nicolas Batum Must Play Well

As odd as it may seem, I truly believe that the Blazers’ best hope for moving on in the playoffs rests largely on Batum’s shoulders. It is well known that Batum has had a rough season, but he has showed very encouraging signs as of late, and it is amazing how great the team looks when Batum is on. His versatility cannot be overstated.

He can facilitate, drive, pull up, rebound, and defend all at a high level when he is playing his best. He can harass opposing 1-3’s on defense, which will be crucial with Wesley Matthews out. On the offensive side, he can handle the ball to give the Blazers’ guards a reprieve, and his slashing / three-point game is a key cog in the Blazers’ offense. He truly can do a little bit of everything.

During this recent stretch of improved play, the Blazers have looked noticeably better as a team. In fact, if you look at Batum’s Game Scores during the season (a single number developed by John Hollinger to roughly measure how well a player played in a single game), his impact on the team’s success is stark. In Batum’s 20 best games measured by Game Score, the Blazers are 15-5. In his ten worst, the Blazers are 3-7.

The All-Stars Must Do Their Part

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By All-Stars, I mean the Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge duo. They generate the bulk of the team’s offense, and in the playoffs when rotations shrink, they will need to produce. Of the two, though, Lillard has more leeway. Aldridge is still the focal point of the offense, so an off-night for Lillard is not necessarily a death knell for the team. It would be more difficult for the team to win a game when Lillard struggles horribly, but not impossible.

Aldridge, on the other hand, I don’t see as having that kind of luxury. This is no knock against Lillard, but Aldridge is so crucial to the team that without a solid contribution from him in a particular game, the Blazers’ chances of success dip drastically. As I have mentioned before, let us not forget that with two monster games, Aldridge essentially single-handedly spotted the Blazers a two-game lead against the Rockets in last year’s playoffs.

This is not to say that Aldridge needs to do that again – that would be ludicrous to expect such a feat. Luckily, just being his steady, stellar self should go a long way toward ensuring the Blazers’ success. Fortunately, with his versatility and sublime mid-range game, Aldridge should be pretty matchup proof. If he decides to shoot his 16-foot turnaround jumper, he’s going to get the shot off, and there is not much a defender can do about it.

The Bench Needs to Win One Game

I’ll say the bench collectively, but more than likely, it will need to be one bench player who provides enough of a boost on their own to swing at least one game in the Blazers’ favor. My favorite example of this will always be Leon Powe in Game 2 of the 2008 NBA Finals, when he scored 21 points on 6-7 shooting in 15 minutes of play for the Boston Celtics. He had at least 21 points only four times during the entire regular season, and aside from this game, never scored more than 12 points during the rest of the playoffs.

His performance was certainly improbable, but those are the types of little things that have to happen to have success in the playoffs. Call it luck if you want, but when the lights are shining brightest, someone unexpected has to be ready to stand up and shine back. Earning an unexpected win on the back of a bench player can go a long way toward deciding a seven game series.

The question becomes, then, who on the Blazers can fit this bill? The most logical answer is C.J. McCollum. He has the shooting ability, so he seems like the most likely bench player to be able to produce a mini-scoring explosion (his recent game against the Los Angeles Lakers is a testament to this ability). When shooters heat up, a lot can happen.