Though they’ve had nothing easy, the Portland Trail Blazers locked up the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference yesterday. Here are three prevailing thoughts from that game.
So, takeaway No. 1: if you’re going to support the Portland Trail Blazers, some sort of medicine might be required. No one told us at the orientation; it wasn’t in the terms and conditions when we signed up for it. You won’t find it in the manual. But it’s become the way of life. There isn’t an amusement park on this planet capable of putting together a rollercoaster of this magnitude.
Last night’s more-suspenseful-than-it-needed-to-be victory over the Brooklyn Nets serves as an Exhibit A. The stipulations were simple: win the game, and live the life of a No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. Portland checked the boxes; they defeated the Nets in 133-132 fashion, and Damian Lillard became the sixth player in NBA history to average at least 30 points and 8 assists per game.
The game ended at 10:49 p.m. in my city, and because it was a season-saving win, I decided it wasn’t worth complaining about, or worrying about how we could even flirt with the idea of defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in a Playoff series until at least 11:00 p.m. And while there’s tons to have trepidation about, the prevailing fact is this:
The Portland Trail Blazers are one play-in victory away from a sixth consecutive Playoff appearance. Regardless of what occurs hereafter, that thought has to mean something.
Depending our your level of optimism towards the team, takeaways and thoughts likely vary. But the one we likely all share in thinking: as long as you have “Dame Dolla,” you can buy time. No lead is safe. No deficit in the Playoff standings feels too far out of reach.
In Kobe terms, the job’s not quite finished. For the Blazers to atone each of the negatives of the season, tomorrow’s play-in game in Memphis still needs a result. But in the meantime, here are three thoughts to sit on for this afternoon.