Game 7 vs. Utah Jazz
Previous Matchups:
— Dec. 26 — Jazz, 121; Blazers, 115
— Feb. 1 — Blazers, 124; Jazz, 107
— Feb. 7 — Jazz, 117; Blazers, 114
Score Prediction: Blazers, 118; Jazz, 110
Record Prediction: 35-38
On Feb. 7, one could guarantee three things: death, taxes, and pissed-off Portland Trail Blazers fans. For many of us, it was the first time we saw Damian Lillard off-kilter; he took to the press in stating that “they cost us the f—ing” game.
There’s a reason this game was brought up, though. It’s sort of understated how close Portland’s played the Jazz, even without suboptimal help. In that last game, they played them on the road, in a back-to-back, and were down to seven playable Blazers, and it took a referee miscue to grant the Jazz a win.
“It cost us the f---ing game, man. ... We in a playoff race, and they cost us the game. ”
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 8, 2020
Damian Lillard didn't hold back after refs missed a goaltend in the final seconds of Blazers/Jazz pic.twitter.com/b3hHwepGBA
For that reason, there’s cause for optimism when they meet up here for this game.
Along those same lines, it should be intriguing to see if teams are still playing for much by this time. If the Blazers went up 6-1 over the first seven as they did in our projection, they could have very well locked up their spot in the play-in tournament by this point.
The same goes for Utah, whose 5-1 finish before the season was cancelled, but them within reach of the No. 3 seed. It’s unclear as to what their roster and its morale will look like, given the awkward Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert situation, or Joe Ingles’ decision to return to Australia with his family until America has a hold on the pandemic.
In any case, the Portland Trail Blazers lineup well with the Jazz. They should be able to steal one here, and set themselves up well down the stretch.