Football season is over. Baseball season is on the way. But basketball is just hitting its stride. Too bad we can’t say the same about Portland. Welcome to your Morning Blazer!
Happy Monday, Trail Blazers fans! What’s new in the world?
Well, first of all, the Philadelphia Eagles ended their long championship drought, beating the New England Tom Bradys in Super Bowl 50-something-or-other.
So congrats to the long-suffering Philly fans! We hope none of you got hurt or arrested destroying your city with happiness.
Trail Blazers Fans
Speaking of long-suffering fans, Rip City got a sad reminder of where it stands in the NBA pecking order this weekend.
On Friday, the second seed in the East, the Toronto Raptors, dismantled the Trail Blazers, 130-105, at the Air Canada Centre. It was a clinic from start to finish; the Raptors were up by 19 after one quarter and scored 74 points in the first half.
No team has scored more points against the Trail Blazers this season.
Then on Sunday, Portland played the top-seeded Boston Celtics, who were without Kyrie Irving. Portland took a 16-point lead into halftime, but fell apart in the second half, losing 97-96 on a buzzer-beater by Al Horford.
Prior to this Blazers road trip, I wrote:
"If the Trail Blazers can win all three games (a monumental but certainly achievable task), then I think we can say with certainty that Portland is among the elite squads in the NBA.If Portland wins two out of three, that will also be quite an achievement, and will further solidify their standing among the league’s best.But if Portland loses two out of three or gets swept during this three-game road trip, then we might be back at square one, wondering just how good these Blazers really are, and coming to the uncomfortable conclusion that they’re just not good enough."
Now Portland finds itself staring down the barrel of an 0-3 road trip. And if the Blazers are unable to knock off the revamped and retooled Pistons Monday in Detroit, then we’ll definitely be back at square one.
And Rip City is pretty darn tired of square one.
Milestones
But there is still much to celebrate with this team, although the milestones have more to do with individual accomplishment than team success.
Damian Lillard scored his 10,000th point. CJ McCollum dropped 50 on the Bulls. Terry Stotts earned his 250th victory as Trail Blazers coach, and the league named him Western Conference Coach of the Month.
But all those individual accolades don’t add up to much more than trivia for a team that can’t seem to sustain its winning stride for more than four games at a time.
And, as has been the case all season, they’ll need more from starters Jusuf Nurkic and Evan Turner if they’re to have any hope of a top-four seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
Glass half full: If Nurk doesn't miss a couple easy layups, or if Evan Turner scores more than 0 points, the Blazers beat Boston.
— Rip City Project (@ripcityproject) February 4, 2018
Glass half empty: Nurk always misses easy layups. Turner has scored less than 10 points in 31 of Portland's 53 games. Both are starters.#Ripcity
Granted, the Blazers played the two biggest beasts of the East this weekend. But there is no excuse for blowing a 16-point lead to a Celtics team playing without Kyrie Irving.
Next: Top 10 Rip City responses to hypothetical Lillard trade
Monday’s tip-off against the Pistons is at 4 p.m. PST.
Go Blazers.