Trail Blazers return to Portland with bad road trip hangover: Afternoon Blazer
Hi all. Welcome to your Tuesday Afternoon Blazer. We’re not feeling so well here at RCP headquarters — mostly because our worst nightmares about that recent Trail Blazers road trip came true. And we probably ate too many potato chips on Super Bowl Sunday.
The Portland Trail Blazers flew east last week riding high on a four-game winning streak (having won seven of eight) and looking to make their mark against the so-called “Beasts of the East.” (Those Beasts being the number 1 and 2 seed in the NBA Eastern Conference, the Celtics and Raptors, respectively.)
Well, here we are a few days later, and the Trail Blazers have returned to Portland with their tails between their legs.
Not only did they lose both games against the Beasts, they also managed to lose to the Pistons.
Trail Blazers’ 0-3 Road Trip
I won’t rehash all the dirty, no-good, rotten details here. Suffice it to say that the Blazers got spanked by the Raptors (Friday) and the Pistons (Monday). And they blew a 16-point halftime lead against the Celtics on Sunday.
The Celtics, by the way, were without star point guard Kyrie Irving.
And so, on their final eastern road trip of the year, the Trail Blazers got smoked, bounced, pummeled and — dare I say it? — embarrassed.
Same Old, Same Old
It would perhaps be less frustrating (and certainly more entertaining) if the Trail Blazers found new ways to lose games. But they keep losing in the same exact ways: failing to hold big leads and not getting nearly enough production from two of their starters — Jusuf Nurkic and Evan Turner.
Nurkic continues his random disappearing acts; sometimes it’s from week to week or game to game, and sometimes it’s from one quarter to the next.
Turner, who was held out of Monday’s loss to the Pistons with a left calf injury, scored zero points Sunday against the Celtics. Zero. It was the second time this season that Turner has gone scoreless in a game, and the 31st time this season he’s scored less than 10 points in a game.
Trade Deadline Looms
The Feb. 8 NBA trade deadline is fast approaching. And although whispers and rumors abound, it seems unlikely that the Trail Blazers will make a big, splashy trade. The most they’re likely to do is make a trade that helps their bottom line more than it improves the product on the court.
The Trail Blazers play two of their next three at home; all three games will be against opponents with losing records. It’s a good chance for Portland to re-establish their mojo, even if it comes against lesser opponents. A win is a win, and Portland needs to start vacuuming those up ASAP.
First up for the Blazers (29-25; sixth in the West) is a Thursday home game against the Charlotte Hornets (23-30; 10th in the East).
Next comes a game in Sacramento Friday against the awful Kings (17-36; who cares where they are in the West?).
And finally, the Trail Blazers return to the Moda Center for a Sunday tilt against the Utah Jazz (25-28; 10th in the West).
Next: Long-suffering Trail Blazers fans seek comfort, find little
The Trail Blazers could easily go 3-0 in those games.
Optimism will reign supreme — another winning streak! — until Rip City glances ahead and sees the Golden State Warriors on the schedule for Valentine’s Day.
And that game will likely be another reminder that this Portland Trail Blazers team is far — so very, very far — from competing with the best in the biz.