How do the Portland Trail Blazers stack up in the Western Conference?
By Nate Mann
Like Damian Lillard predicted, the Portland Trail Blazers are off to a blazing start.
The Portland Trail Blazers are two plays away from being the only undefeated team in the NBA.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s steal and Blake Griffin’s buzzer-beater have the Blazers 4-2 on the season.
Rip City fans are certainly pleased with the team’s effort though. Even with Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic not playing up to standards, the team maintains a positive record behind strong bench play.
Pat Connaughton, Evan Turner, and Ed Davis headline the reserves keeping Portland in games while Nurk sits with foul trouble or Dame struggles to find his rhythm.
And of course, CJ McCollum contributes to the record. He’s scored over 20 points in every game on blistering 50.6% shooting from the field and 56.5% from deep.
Power Rankings:
ESPN, NBA.com, and Sports Illustrated revised their underestimated ranks for the Portland Trail Blazers.
The ESPN voters moved Portland up to No. 10 heading into week three, a two-spot improvement from last Monday.
John Schuhmann of NBA.com ranks the team way up at No. 6, behind San Antonio (No. 5) and ahead of Washington (No. 7).
Also NBA.com, David Aldridge puts Portland at No. 13, climbing one position from last week.
Sports Illustrated’s Kenny Ducey agrees with David Aldridge; he has the Blazers at No. 13. Interestingly, Ducey places the New Orleans Pelicans next at No. 14.
To justify the updated power rankings, each writer attributes Portland’s rise to better defense, lights-out play from McCollum, and the two losses being close games.
Other Western Conference teams:
In the four lists discussed above, Western Conference teams dominate the top seeds.
Portland is No. 10 for ESPN, but the West’s sixth best team. The Rockets (No. 1), Golden State Warriors (No. 2), San Antonio Spurs (No. 3), LA Clippers (No. 4), and Memphis Grizzlies (No. 5) are all ahead of the Blazers.
John Schuhmann has the same top five as ESPN, but in a different order. While Portland is No. 6 for Schuhmann, they’re also the sixth Western Conference team.
The Blazers are seventh in the West for David Aldridge. He has the same five ahead, along with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are 3-3 this year.
Finally, Kenny Ducey has Portland as the last playoff team in the West. Along with the five commonly ranked in front, Ducey has the OKC Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves above Portland.
Just a note: Minnesota is 3-3 and on pace for a historic season – historically bad defense.
The 1998-99 Nuggets have the worst adjusted defensive rating in NBA history (92.57).
— NBA Math (@NBA_Math) October 26, 2017
The Minnesota Timberwolves currently sit at 91.23.
For the future:
The Grizzlies and Clippers have surprised everyone. If the play keeps up, they’ll be snatching two Western Conference playoff spots not all expected to be taken.
The Portland Trail Blazers are off to a great start as well. However, being a bottom playoff seed makes Golden State or Houston the first-round matchup.
For a better chance at making it past the initial round of postseason, the Blazers need to find their way into a top five or six seed in the West.
This means outplaying Memphis, LAC, along with Denver, New Orleans, OKC and Minnesota who are all off to underwhelming starts but will bounce back.