No. 3: When will Portland stop testing its fourth quarter fate?
In the Orlando bubble, the Portland Trail Blazers have a +7.7 point differential in fourth quarters, the best of any team in the NBA, now that the Phoenix Suns are eliminated. And don’t you dare celebrate it. Part of the reason they even have to become the ‘96 Chicago Bulls down the stretch is because they’ve left themselves so little leeway with how they’ve performed in the quarter beforehand.
For all of the things and people the Portland Trail Blazers had to leave behind to enter the Orlando bubble, those third quarter struggles weren’t one of them.
A few days ago, it appeared as though they were turning a corner. But like gum stuck to a shoe, the same problems have hung about. Since the NBA restart, they own a net rating of -18.8, second-worst among teams. But one potential cause for optimism: the one team worse than Portland over that same time frame? The Los Angeles Lakers.
Last night’s game further exacerbated those issues. Brooklyn jumped ahead to a 37-24 finish to the quarter by the final horn. To this point, the Blazers have stepped into the lava, and haven’t quite burned themselves. But at what point do they stop tempting both fate, and their own mortality in fourth quarters?
One trend that seems to recur quite a bit is that they do eventually figure things out in the third quarter. But it comes right at the end, providing them with momentum for the fourth quarter. As thrilling as that is, it doesn’t feel sustainable.
In the Memphis game, it’ll be another storyline to watch, especially since Memphis has outscored them 61-42 in two meetings this season. Maybe the switch flips in a game of this level of consequence. But in the meantime, perhaps a petition to cancel halftime shows?