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Portland Trail Blazers: 3 NBA records the Blazers could to break in 2020-21

By Marlow Ferguson Jr.

PORTLAND, OREGON - DECEMBER 23: Carmelo Anthony #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers warms up before the game against the Utah Jazz at Moda Center on December 23, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OREGON - DECEMBER 23: Carmelo Anthony #00 of the Portland Trail Blazers warms up before the game against the Utah Jazz at Moda Center on December 23, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) /
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Portland Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers (Mandatory Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports) /

No. 3: The NBA’s longest active postseason streak

Currently: Second-longest active streak
What’s needed: Blazers make Playoffs + Rockets miss Playoffs

It’s been said time and time again through history: at season’s end, only one team can be the NBA champion. And though it may be arbitrary, the Portland Trail Blazers have given fans an opportunity to appreciate consistency.

As it stands today, the Blazers have locked in seven consecutive Playoff appearances, dating back to 2013-14, a mere one season off the Houston Rockets with eight. Given both the challenges the Western Conference will present, as well as Houston’s currently rocky situation, Portland could be poised to join the Toronto Raptors in a tie for the longest streak.

In pursuit of that, those within the Blazers’ organization would be given a chance to receive their roses. Despite the public ire he receives on social media, Terry Stotts is only 22 wins away from joining the exclusive 500-win club, home to only 33 coaches in NBA history.

And, one would think it would be difficult to consider cutting ties with a coach production to that degree under his belt, having coached a team that year-after-year, trudged through the West and kept the team in contention. The schemes are a different topic for a different day; this is merely what the record books say.

The premise isn’t necessarily to support mediocrity, but rather to show that it’s possible to appreciate an era even without a championship parade.

As a case in point: most aren’t aware of the Portland Trail Blazers’ all-time streak from 1983 to 2003, in which they made the Playoffs in all 20 seasons. Even without rings to show for it, the Playoff efforts of Portland greats of that time were acknowledged and cherished. There’s a real world in which the Lillard-McCollum-Stotts era doesn’t break through. But a streak of this nature would certainly still be a positive.

Next. DeMar DeRozan dishes praise to Damian Lillard. dark