Despite losing three straight and six of their last 10, the Portland Trail Blazers remain in control of their playoff destiny.
The Blazers lost to the Spurs Saturday night in San Antonio. They’ve now gone 0-for-Texas on this trip, having also lost to the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets.
And yet the Blazers, despite their recent struggles and worrisome on-court trends, can still secure either the fourth seed (magic number is one) or the third seed (magic number is two).
All they have to do is win — the one thing that they’re having a hard time doing lately.
Of course, they can also sneak into the third or fourth seed by the back door — that is to say: If Utah loses one or two games, that will also secure home court advantage for the Blazers.
But — unlike the Portland Trail Blazers — the Utah Jazz doesn’t seem too keen on losing the games they need to win; they’ve won four straight and seven of their last 10 games.
Blazers' magic number for the fourth seed is one. Magic number for the third seed is two. They can finish no worse than fifth. Two games left: Monday at Denver and Wednesday at home against the Jazz. #RipCity pic.twitter.com/9ncwGupVaP
— Rip City Project (@ripcityproject) April 8, 2018
Blazers’ Situation
Portland seems intent on making what’s easy way more difficult than it needs to be. They’ve had the keys to home court advantage (in other words, either the third or fourth seed) in their pockets for several games in a row now. But they just can’t seem to take care of business.
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A lot of this has to do with some concerning on-court trends — exacerbated by the loss of Ed Davis and Maurice Harkless to injuries. Portland’s defense — a strength for much of the season — has fallen off in recent weeks; Saturday in San Antonio, for example, the Spurs shot an outrageous 56 percent from the floor.
Portland is still No. 9 in the league in defensive rating, but in the last 15 games, they’re ranked 15th in that statistical category.
When Will It Turn Around?
The Blazers play on the road against the Denver Nuggets Monday. Denver has won five in a row and seven of their last 10 games. They are currently on the outside of the playoff picture looking in and will be in desperation mode come Monday night.
The Blazers can either take advantage of that desperation or wither under its onslaught. It would definitely be helpful to have Davis back, but his status for that game is still uncertain.
Portland has lost two of three against the Nuggets this season, by the way.
The Blazers then finish out the season Wednesday at home against the Utah Jazz. The Jazz has beaten Portland two out of three games this season.
Utah has two games to play before they arrive in Portland — against the Lakers Sunday and the Golden State Warriors Tuesday.
If the Blazers take care of their business and win both games against Denver and Utah, then they’ll secure that third seed and won’t have to worry about anything else. But if they continue to play porous defense — and if the Jazz continue to win ‚— then Portland might find its grip on that third seed slipping, and they may fall all the way to the fifth seed.
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And then Rip City can say goodbye to home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
We’ve been saying it for a couple of weeks now: Just win, Blazers.
Just win.