The NBA released its 2018-2019 regular season schedule last Friday. Here are five (six!) Portland Trail Blazers games we can’t wait to see.
Basketball is fun. It’s fun to play, and it’s fun to watch. And the NBA is where the best basketball to watch is played. For the Portland Trail Blazers and their fans, that means the following five (ahem … six!) games should be at the top of the list in terms of anticipation and potential for the most fun-to-watch-ness.
(FYI I make up words all the time. Don’t judge. Shakespeare supposedly did it, too, yo. Not to mention Lewis Carroll and Dr. Seuss. Sure, I’m no Shakespeare or Carroll or Seuss — but they’re not me, either. And what did they know about basketball, anyway?)
NBA Schedule
When the NBA released the schedule for the upcoming season, those of us who write about the Association for a (sorta) living immediately began parsing some of its details. (The weird, wild, wacky, wonky etc.) And we’ll continue to do so. Especially since it’s August, the deadest of dead times for the NBA, and we need things to write about.
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- Portland Trail Blazers NBA 2K24 team, player ratings
- Woj: Blazers, Lillard ‘fully prepared’ for star to be with team in training camp
Anyway, I’m stalling for some reason. Let’s get on with it. Here’s the full Blazers schedule. And here are five (sigh … six) games we’re looking forwardest to the most mostest.
Lakers vs. Blazers (Oct. 18)
As you may have heard, the Blazers open the 2018-2019 season at home against the Los Angeles LeBrons — sorry, Lakers — on Thursday, Oct. 18. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (All times listed will be Portland time and are, of course, subject to change.)
As if Rip City needed another reason to dislike the Lakers; now they have the best basketball player on the planet, too.
And LeBron will certainly be aching to get his LAL career off to a good start.
Especially since the game will be nationally televised on TNT. And especially especially because the Lakers haven’t beaten Portland since March 3, 2014.
That’s 15 games in a row, for those of you keeping score.
Beat L.A.? Heck yeah.
But now it’s also: Beat LeBron!
Let’s hear that echoing off the Moda Center rafters for years to come.
Blazers vs. Warriors (Nov. 23)
The Blazers play the defending-defending champion Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Friday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m. That’s the day after Thanksgiving, which is a wonderful day, indeed.
This will be the first match-up of the 2018-2019 season between these two squads, which means a couple of things:
First, it will give Portland a chance to see how it stacks up against the best team in the league.
Second, it will give CJ McCollum and Kevin Durant a chance to settle their differences on the court rather than on a podcast or over Twitter. Should be fun.
Blazers vs. Jazz (Dec. 25)
It’s Christmas. It’s on ESPN. It’s at 7:30 p.m. It’s in Utah.
We covered Portland and Christmas games at length here and here. Ho ho ho, people!
Nets vs. Blazers (March 25)
This might not normally make our radar, but a Monday, March 25 (7 p.m.) game against the Brooklyn Nets has some added significance for Blazers fans.
That’s because it will mark the return of several former Blazers players. Ed Davis, Shabazz Napier and Allen Crabbe all play for “Portland East” now, and it will be good to see the fellas for a little while.
Davis should get a hero’s welcome when he comes back to the Moda Center. Shabazz, too. In fact, all three of these dudes will likely get a warm welcome back, although the more intense Blazers fans amongst us might boo Crabbe simply because of that traded player exception that expired with nothing to show for it.
Blazers vs. Nuggets (April 5)/Nuggets vs. Blazers (April 7)
OK, so there are actually six games on this list. (Told ya!) But we’re combining these two Blazers-Nuggets games into one entry.
It’s likely that Denver and Portland will be battling it out for one of the eight spots in the NBA Western Conference playoffs. These two teams have been pretty evenly matched the past few season, with Portland often playing the spoiler and knocking the Nuggets out of contention.
The Nuggets haven’t made the postseason since 2013, and they will be trying to end that sad streak when the time comes for these back-to-back games at the tail end of the season. The Friday, April 5 (7:30 p.m.) game will be televised on ESPN. Two days later on April 7 (6 p.m.), they’ll match up again at the Moda Center.
If recent history is any indication, these two games may actually wind up being the most important of the season.
Go Blazers.