We are coming down the final stretch of the 2021-2022 Portland Trail Blazers season. Some might be thankful that it COULD be about over. Some might be disappointed it is. And there are even those who could really care less at this point.
After a surprise win last night against the Washington Wizards — behind a career-high 44 points from Josh Hart — Portland finds themselves just a half game from the New Orleans Pelicans for the final play-in spot.
The hope is that in these final games, the Trail Blazers will get back to accumulating losses to increase their odds for a higher draft pick, or two depending what the New Orleans Pelicans do the rest of the way. The Blazers own their if New Orleans missed the playoffs and the lottery slots their selection between the fifth and 14th picks. If the Blazers were to make the playoffs, that pick goes to the Chicago Bulls, which they signed over the rights to as part of the three team trade with Cleveland that brought Larry Nance Jr. to Portland.
With a variety of possible outcomes for the remainder of the season, there’s plenty of intrigue to be had for the final handful of games.
What will we see within the Portland Trail Blazers final games?
Here are the remaining games for the Trail Blazers:
Monday, March 14
@ Atlanta Hawks
Wednesday, March 16
@ New York Knicks
Friday, March 18
@ Brooklyn Nets
Sunday, March 20
@ Indiana Pacers
Monday, March 21
@ Detroit Pistons
Wednesday, March 23
vs. San Antonio Spurs
Friday, March 25
vs. Houston Rockets
Saturday, March 26
vs. Houston Rockets
Monday, March 28
vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Wednesday, March 30
vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Friday, April 1
@ San Antonio Spurs
Sunday, April 3
@ San Antonio Spurs
Tuesday, April 5
@ Oklahoma City Thunder
Thursday, April 7
@ New Orleans Pelicans
Friday, April 8
@ Dallas Mavericks
Sunday, Apr 10
vs. Utah Jazz
The million dollar question with the remaining games is: Will the Blazers win any of them? With the injuries (real or fake) continuing to occur for them, it’s getting tougher and tougher to fail upwards into a victory.
Thirteen of those games are against teams below .500, but the Trail Blazers are consistently running out the least established team in the NBA right now.
So will Portland get a win before the end of the season? In my opinion, they will win at least three more. The game against the Pistons and the two versus the Rockets should be winnable. Fortunately or unfortunately, it likely won’t be good enough in hopes of obtaining the final play-in spot. It also means their streak of making the playoffs (eight years in a row) will come to an end.
If there’s a bright spot in all of this, they’ll be in the lottery, and perhaps land a fortuitous draft pick if all goes well with the infamous ping pong balls.
Let’s enjoy the rest of the season as a time to see what some of the fresh, young faces still active on the roster can do and offer.