The Portland Trail Blazers' remaining schedule for the 2025-26 season just became the easiest in the NBA, according to Tankathon.
The Blazers' opponents have a combined .471 winning percentage, beating out the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings (47.7%). Portland's easiest remaining opponents include the New Orleans Pelicans (three games), Washington Wizards (two), Indiana Pacers (two), Brooklyn Nets (two), Sacramento Kings (four), and Charlotte Hornets (two).
They'll immediately reap the benefits of this light schedule, with matchups against the Pelicans and Kings in three of their next five games. That's ideal timing for an injured Blazers team that desperately needs to catch a break in order to right the ship and keep their postseason hopes alive.
Portland has the easiest remaining strength of schedule in the NBA
Their lack of depth has been highly problematic as of late, particularly in the backcourt. Portland will soon be getting reinforcements in the form of Scoot Henderson, Jrue Holiday, and Matisse Thybulle, all of whom are expected to return at some point this December. The combination of schedule lightening up and players getting healthier provides them a golden opportunity to gain momentum heading into the new year.
The Blazers currently sit 10th in the Western Conference with a 9-14 record, but are a substantially better team than their record indicates. We saw a glimpse of this team's true talent with a relatively healthier roster at the beginning of the season, starting 5-3 with impressive wins over the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, and Oklahoma City Thunder (which is somehow still their only loss of the season).
The silver lining of these injuries is that they have provided an opportunity for others to step up in increased roles, which has contributed to Deni Avdija's All-Star-level season as he's had to take on more responsibility in initiating the offense. Once Portland is able to implement what has been going well as of late with the defensive identity they showed to start the season, they'll be a difficult out regardless of what the schedule looks like.
Another overlooked factor, surprisingly working in the Blazers' favor, is that the Western Conference... isn't that deep? At least relative to expectations, that is.
Heading into the year, it appeared the Utah Jazz were the only true bottom-feeder in the West, with all other 14 teams competing for a playoff or play-in spot. However, that hasn't been the case to start. The reality is the West remains top-heavy, but the depth just isn't what it once was. The Pelicans have the worst record in the league, the Clippers are falling apart, the Mavericks are banged up, and the Kings are doing Kings things.
Portland's demanding early schedule and injury-riddled roster mean their current 10th-place standing is likely the floor, as things are only going to get better from here.