It is Week 8 of the NBA season and ESPN has released its weekly power rankings.
Last week the Portland Trail Blazers were ranked eighth by ESPN after a nice 4-1 road trip. Because of two straight losses, the Blazers have dropped three spots this week.
The Blazers are ranked in front of the Oklahoma City Thunder (14) and Utah Jazz (15), while behind the Denver Nuggets (ten) and the Philadelphia 76ers (eight).
Review of the week:
The Blazers went 1-2 this week with losses to the Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans, plus a win over the New York Knicks. Both of the losses came at home to teams behind Portland in ESPN’s rankings. The Pelicans are 17th and the Bucks 12th.
"“Even after getting touched up by Boogie Cousins for 38 points Saturday night, the Blazers rank fourth in defensive efficiency, and no team allows a lower field goal percentage in the restricted area (54.1 percent). — Law Murray”"
That’s a promising note for the Blazers even after a rough week. The Blazers are playing good defense, but need their offense to catch up with them.
They are ranked fourth in defensive efficiency and 22nd in offensive efficiency. Most fans and NBA followers would have predicted the Blazers to be fourth in offense and 22nd in defensive.
Stats for the last 3 games:
Damian Lillard
26.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 0.7 steals
CJ McCollum
14.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists
Jusuf Nurkic
15 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.0 steal
Noah Vonleh
5.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 0.7 blocks
Pat Connaughton
9.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 50% 3PT
Meyers Leonard
9.5 points, 2.5 points, 1.5 assists, 66.7% 3PT
Making a “Statement”:
The Blazers played their first games at home in their new Nike “Statement” Jersey. They are currently 0-2 in the new threads. It will be interesting to see how often they wear them. The team looked really sharp and I wouldn’t mind seeing them play in red more often.
Upcoming games:
The Blazers play two games this week.
Tuesday, December 5th at home against the Washington Wizards.
This will be the second and final matchup with the Wizards. The last time they played was November 25 in D.C where the Blazers won 108-105. Portland came back from 17 points down in the final quarter to win the game.
The Wizards were without John Wall in that game and may be without him again. The Blazers were without Al-Farouq Aminu, but will have him back from this one.
Washington will be playing Portland on the second night of back-to-back. The Blazers enter the game with two straight losses.
The game is at 7:00 p.m PT and can be viewed nationally on NBATV or through Rip City Radio 620.
Saturday, December 9th at home against the Houston Rockets.
This will be the first matchup between these Western Conference teams. The Rockets are 18-4 on the season and come in at No. 1 in this week’s ESPN power rankings. They are led by MVP candidate James Harden, who tops the NBA in scoring and is second in assists, only behind his new teammate Chris Paul.