Trail Blazers knocking on playoff door after solid performance vs. Wizards

After solid wins vs. the Magic and the Wizards, the Trail Blazers suddenly find themselves back on track, and hunting down the Grizzlies for the 8th seed.

After a very disappointing loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night, the Portland Trail Blazers have bounced back with two solid wins over the Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards, and most importantly, Damian Lillard is back.

Wednesday night’s game was never really in question for the Blazers, as they pretty much dominated the Wizards on both ends of the floor for all but one small run that the Wizards made in the fourth quarter. The Blazers ended the game with all 5 starters scoring in double figures and combining for 108 points as they defeated the Wizards 125-104.

Carmelo Anthony finished the night with 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals on 8-13 shooting (+34), while Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum both put up 22 points a piece on 50% shooting. Hassan Whiteside added 24 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks on 10-14 shooting. While these scoring numbers are impressive, perhaps more impressive is the fact that the Blazers only gave up 104 points to the Wizards, who are the NBA’s 4th best offense, averaging 116.1 points per game.

One of the things that stood out most to me in this win was the Blazers’ discipline on both ends of the floor. Rather than selling out for unlikely steals and blocks like they often do, the Blazers stayed very solid on the defensive end and forced the Wizards to make tough shots, holding them to 38.8% from the field and 31.4% from three. They did, however, give up 18 offensive rebounds.

Perhaps a big reason for this defensive showing was the presence of Trevor Ariza. While he may rarely do anything amazing, it seems even more rare that he ever messes up. He’s always at the right place at the right time, and has a great feel for defensive rotations and the flow of the team’s offense. Although I do not have a telling stat to back it up, it seems heavily apparent to me that the Blazers get out on the break a lot more when Ariza is in the lineup, as he seems to try and push the ball up the floor at every chance he can and does a great job filling lanes. Perhaps Mike D’Antoni is to thank for this.

If there’s one thing that we learned about the Blazers in Damian Lillard’s absence, it is that CJ McCollum is still a lethal scorer in the right situation. While it will never be easy for the Blazers to fully utilize the skills of Lillard and McCollum at the same time, there’s definitely more opportunity to do when staggering their minutes. This is a strategy that Terry Stotts and the Blazers had utilized for years up until last season, when they decided to always play Lillard and McCollum together to allow their bench to develop a consistent rotation.

With all of the injuries that the Blazers have sustained this season, they may need to concede the fact that their bench is not strong enough to play on their own and start staggering Lillard and McCollum’s minutes again, just as they did tonight. This will allow CJ to create more for himself, as he loves to do, without taking quality shots away from Lillard.

With the Blazers’ win over the Wizards, they now sit 3.5 games back of the Memphis Grizzlies for the 8th seed in the west. While the Grizzlies did have an impressive win over the Brooklyn Nets tonight, they really aren’t the team that the Blazers should be worried about, as they have the toughest remaining schedule in the entire NBA for the rest of the season. According the FiveThirtyEight.com, the Grizzlies only have a 18% of making the playoffs this season. The Blazers have two remaining games against the Grizzlies this season, which are both at home.

On the other hand, the New Orleans Pelicans have a 43% chance of making the playoffs, according the FiveThirtyEight.com, who also give the Blazers a 23% chance, the Sacramento Kings a 13% chance, the San Antonio Spurs a 3% chance, and the Phoenix Suns a <1% chance. While the Pelicans may have struggled to win games early on in the season, they have been on a terror ever since Zion Williamson joined the team. Luckily, the Dallas Mavericks edged them out to a 127-123 overtime win Wednesday night.

With the returns of Zach Collins and Jusuf Nurkic seemingly on the verge (emphasis on seemingly), the Blazers may have picked the perfect time to turn things around and make a playoff run. With their next 4 games coming against the Kings, Grizzlies, and Suns (2x), they must stay focused and continue grinding out wins if they want a chance at playing the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.