The Portland Trail Blazers recently had an unexpected four-day break in between games from Jan. 19 to Jan. 23. Here’s to hoping they found some enjoyment during that stretch; according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, their February schedule just got a bit more interesting.
In a recent tweet, Charania noted a few of the games that the NBA will be rescheduling, one of which now gives the Blazers a different opponent during their six-game road trip.
NBA will reschedule certain postponed games in first half of the season -- instead of the second half.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 27, 2021
Changes:
- Blazers-Wizards: Feb. 2, (previously second half)
- Wizards-Hornets: Feb. 7 (previously Jan. 20)
- Blazers-Hornets Feb. 7: postponed to second half
As a whole, here’s the outlook of the new slate of games, beginning with the road trip that starts in January and bleeds its way into February.
— Jan. 28 at Rockets
— Jan. 30 at Bulls
— Feb. 1 at Bucks
— Feb. 2 at Wizards (newly-added game)
— Feb. 4 at 76ers
— Feb. 6 at Knicks
The NBA recently rescheduled three games on its schedule. Here’s how the Portland Trail Blazers will be slightly affected by the changes.
The most glaring takeaway is in how the Portland Trail Blazers — already in a scramble for healthy bodies — will now have a back-to-back set, and a difficult four-games-in-six-nights stretch. Damian Lillard-led teams have always been acknowledged for their mental toughness and tendency to dig themselves out of holes. Consider it another test.
It’s certainly an inopportune time to go going into such a tough road stretch. Though, the advantage of home court likely doesn’t mean as much as in previous years; teams have just a 52.2 percent winning percentage at home in 2020-21 (a 130-119 win-loss record).
In addition to that, the Portland Trail Blazers have actually been better on the road, so one doesn’t have to go too far to grasp for straws.
Assuming the Blazers find a way to survive the recent onslaught of games, they will have set themselves up for an intriguing second half schedule. They had the easiest schedule in the Western Conference in terms of 2019-20 point differential, but they’re projected to be welcoming back two stars in CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. But, as is usually the case, only time will tell.