The No. 10-seeded Portland Trail Blazers already have a steep hill to climb if they want to make the playoffs. The path may have gotten rougher after they gave up a win to the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday, as the loss prevented them from gaining ground in the Western Conference postseason race and from building up momentum heading into a crucial five-game road trip.
A heartbreaking loss
What looked like a comfortable win quickly turned into a nightmare for the Blazers on Tuesday. They raced to a 43-24 lead in the second quarter before Charlotte went on a 22-12 run to close the first half. The Blazers eventually lost 103-101, and if it weren't for Scoot Henderson's last-second make from halfcourt, the margin would have been a bit wider.
Some cold-shooting stretches and unfortunate miscues late in the contest squandered the solid performances from Jerami Grant and Deni Avdija. Henderson followed up his 28-point production in Portland's win over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday with 14 points in the first two periods against the Hornets. However, he scored just three points after intermission and proved that his turnover-prone tendencies are far from over, as he turned the ball over a total of four times.
Making matters worse was that Charlotte had to play key stretches without a true point guard, as LaMelo Ball battled with foul trouble and Coby White was a DNP because of his calf injury.
Had the Blazers prevailed, they would likely have gone 3-0 on their homestand. Their last opponent of that stretch is the tanking Utah Jazz, and the matchup will come after a two-day rest, so it's safe to assume that they have that win in the bag.
After the Jazz tiff, they are set to take on the Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, Pacers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets on the road.
We can only hope that Portland can snag a victory against the Sixers even without a full head of steam before it notches expected dubs against the Nets and Pacers. The Wolves and Nuggets on the road are going to be a handful, but we can't write off the Blazers pulling off a couple of upsets.
Gunning for the eighth spot
Looking at the bigger picture, Rip City would have been better off ending up with the victory on Tuesday. Aside from the wasted potential to gather momentum, it missed out on the chance to close in on the No. 8 seed. Instead of being just one game behind the LA Clippers, Portland is now two games back. Keep in mind that an eighth-place finish will grant the team two chances in the play-in tournament to secure a playoff berth.
On the bright side, there might be enough time for the Blazers to catch up. Also aiding their cause is that they have the easiest remaining strength of schedule in the league. The combined winning percentage of their last 16 opponents is .419.
Hopefully, the Blazers have already put their latest loss behind them and are focused on racking up as many wins as possible in the coming weeks.