Two impressive wins at home give the Portland Trail Blazers some cushion for the playoffs.
The Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets left the Moda Center with higher numbers in the loss column than when they entered. Those two victories for the Blazers cap-off an ongoing 5-game win streak in the middle of a crucial playoff push. In fact, the entire month of March has been kind to Portland. They finish with a 13-3 record and move to a game and a half ahead of Denver for the final Western playoff spot.
This wonderful week started in Los Angeles, as the Blazers defeated the Lakers, 97-81. It wasn’t even close, as Portland controlled the game through and through with Damian Lillard dropping in 22 points. Meanwhile, Noah Vonleh grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds.
Two days later and back at the Moda Center, the Blazers brought their A+ game in a very intense game against then-8th seeded Denver. Jusuf Nurkić had his second career night in as many weeks, posting 33 points to go with 16 rebounds against the team that traded him last month. His revenge-game went right along with C.J. McCollum‘s 39 points on 15-24 shooting.
The win over the Nuggets clinched the tiebreaker for the Blazers, while also officially moving them into the 8th slot. Then, in a primetime, Thursday night TNT game, Portland fended off the Houston Rockets, 117-107. Houston is the third best team in the Western Conference.
Thursday proved to be Portland’s night as Damian Lillard continued this amazing month by scoring 30 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Nurkić (19), Allen Crabbe (17), Moe Harkless (17), Al-Farouq Aminu (15), and McCollum all finished with double-figure numbers in scoring as well. James Harden finished with 30 points himself, but it took him 30 shots to accomplish that feat. This game summarized how the Blazers have been winning so often lately: team-oriented offense with explosive scoring and improved defense.
March could have been madness (or, even worse) for the Trailblazers. Instead, the world has seen Portland claw their way into the playoffs, playing their best basketball of the season. Portland began the month at 24-35, bordering between the 9th and 10th spot in the West. Many fans were looking towards a lottery pick this summer, and accepted the notion of not being in the Playoffs. Since then, the Blazers have grabbed a hold of the final spot in the West while playing fantastic basketball. The trio of Lillard/McCollum/Nurkić is deadly, giving the team even more momentum going into a likely first round match up against the Warriors.
With 12 days and seven games left in the regular season, the Blazers will look to secure the 8th seed for good sooner than later. Winning in the same fashion as the last two games, which were against very impressive teams, would almost certainly lock up a playoff berth for the Blazers. The upward play of this team is an amazing sight to see, as it could even spell a major series upset come playoff time.
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