Gaining the 3 Seed Gives the Portland Trail Blazers an Easier Path to the Western Conference Finals
By Jakob Ashlin
With a comeback win over the Sacramento Kings, the Portland Trail Blazers unexpectedly gained the 3 seed in the Western Conference. Here is why that could help them in the long run.
The Portland Trail Blazers locked up homecourt advantage in the first round with an entertaining victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. With homecourt secured, the team seemed comfortable facing the Utah Jazz in the first round and rested franchise cornerstones Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum against the Sacramento Kings.
Everything was going according to plan as the Blazers were trailing by 28 points in the third quarter. However, the young players rallied around a 37 point performance by rookie Anfernee Simons and completed an astonishing comeback victory.
As a result, the Blazers will now have to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. Many fans and analysts are skeptical of Portland’s chances due to the Thunder sweeping the season series and the absence of Jusuf Nurkic.
Even Las Vegas has the Blazers pegged as the underdogs in the series despite being the higher seed, but when I dove deeper into the potential matchups, I realized something. Earning the three seed may have been the best outcome for the Blazers in the long run. Here is why.