After a gigantic win in Memphis against the Grizzlies on Wednesday, the Portland Trail Blazers have a six-game hold on the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. With Ja Morant easing his way back onto the court with an elbow injury, the Blazers can basically forget about the teams behind them in the standings. A play-in berth is all but guaranteed.
Now, they can look up in the standings, at the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors, whom they are one and two games behind, respectively. Surpassing each of those teams would do wonders for the Blazers' postseason prospects. If they get up to the No. 8 spot, they'll have two chances at making the playoffs, and that second chance (if needed) would be at Moda Center.
Even getting to the No. 9 spot would be nice — the Blazers would host the 9 vs. 10 play-in game, but would still need to win two games in a row for a chance to play (likely) the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. Yippee.
Of course, the Blazers will do everything in their power to leapfrog those teams over the next month. But the health of Steph Curry and the dominance of Kawhi Leonard will both also play large parts in where the Blazers find themselves in the final Western Conference standings.
Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard will dictate the Blazers' positioning
Curry is currently on the mend from a knee injury, and will miss at least the next few games before retaking the court. Without him, the Warriors are pretty helpless. Thus, every game Curry misses feels like an extra chance for the Blazers to gain more ground on the Dubs, who they also own the tiebreaker with after winning the season series 3-1.
Kawhi Leonard, meanwhile, is as healthy as he has been in years down the homestretch of this season. But the Clippers traded his two costars last month, so now the Clippers are trying to win in earnest despite no longer employing James Harden or Ivica Zubac. A strange situation all around.
Both teams in front of the Blazers possess more starpower. But with one of those stars sidelined for at least a few more games, and the other now having to carry a massive offensive load after his team left him alone at the deadline, the gap between the Warriors, Clips, and Blazers is pretty much nonexistent.