It’s the first day of spring — and in Riplandia, we’re celebrating Portland’s lucky 13-game winning streak and aiming for 14.
Former Blazers TV color man Mike Rice told us he’d eat his shoe with A.1. Sauce if the Blazers won 16 games in a row. We won’t hold him to that — or will we … ? — but he’s right to suggest that it’s hard to imagine the Trail Blazers winning that many games in a row.
I will put A1 sauce on my gym shoe & eat it if they get 16 in a row https://t.co/WIDbgH7LVr
— Mike Rice (@mikerice6) March 17, 2018
Winning Streaks Are Hard, Mmkay?
Why?
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First of all, only two squads in franchise history have ever won more than 13 games in a row.
If Portland beats Houston Tuesday, this 2017-2018 team will have the third longest Blazers winning streak overall (and the second longest single-season streak) in history.
Second, it’s hard to win that many games in a row regardless of the opponents and regardless of what part of the season it is.
To have a winning streak of this magnitude this late in the season — and in the Western Conference no less, where eight tightly packed teams are fighting for six playoff spots — is an extraordinary feat.
And third, the Blazers’ schedule over the next week or so includes three of the best teams in the West — Houston (Tuesday), Oklahoma City (Sunday), New Orleans (next Tuesday) — and the No. 2 seed in the East — Boston (Friday) — sandwiched in between.
If the Blazers do win 17 straight (establishing a franchise record), 12 of those wins will have been against Western Conference opponents during a season in which the West has been unusually competitive. #RipCity https://t.co/24cHV7SX7T
— Rip City Project (@ripcityproject) March 20, 2018
As Blazers head coach Terry Stotts told The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Joe Freeman:
"“I’ve never seen this many teams grouped together, this tightly, this late in the year. There are always interesting playoff races. That’s every year. But maybe you have a three-way tie. To have this many teams between third and 10th … this is incredible.”"
So you can see why Mr. Rice isn’t quite ready to tie a bib around his neck and start slathering steak sauce onto his sneakers.
Rockets vs. Blazers
The Blazers can definitely beat the Rockets and earn their 14th straight win. Here’s how.
- Hound and harass James Harden at the three-point line. In seven of the Rockets’ 11 losses in which Harden played, he shot less than 34 percent from three.
- Keep Harden off the free throw line. He’s crafty, and he’s going to get to the line. But if the Blazers can hold Harden to fewer than 12 free throws or so, they have a good chance of keeping him in check.
- Make Harden turn the ball over. He seems to have the ball in his hands all the time, and he can be prone to turnovers. In fact, in nine of the Rockets’ 11 losses in which he played, Harden turned the ball over four or more times.
- Corral Chris Paul. Force him to shoot from inside or around the key. He doesn’t like it.
- Play defense. The Blazers have been putting opponents away with solid defense, especially late in games. Shots will sometimes bounce in and out, but defense will keep a team in games through offensive thick and offensive thin.
- Double figures. The Rockets have six players averaging double figures in scoring (and one, Ryan Anderson, who averages 9.9 points per game). The Blazers are going to have to match that output, which means (in addition to Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic) they’ll need 10 or more points from Evan Turner, Al-Farouq Aminu and Maurice Harkless. If Shabazz Napier can get close to double-figure scoring, then that’s even better.
Next: Stotts in conversation for NBA’s Coach of the Year Award
Gametime
Nobody said it would be easy. The Rockets have been one of the league’s best from Day 1, and they haven’t shown many signs of slowing down. They’ve won five in a row and nine of their last 10. And they beat the Blazers in both of their previous meetings this season.
But nobody is on a roll right now like the Blazers are on a roll. And they’ll be playing at the Moda Center, where they’ve won 18 of their last 19 games.
It’s going to be a playoff-type atmosphere. And it’s going to be a chance for this Blazers team to etch its name into the franchise’s history book.
And a win would mean Mike Rice is one step closer to Fila mignon.
Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. PDT.