Last week, the Portland Trail Blazers had an average NBA Power Ranking roundup of 23.2—an average aggregate from five major outlets: NBA, ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, and CBS Sports. Since the most recent Nov. 26 roundup, the Blazers have gone 1-3. Here are the outcomes of those four games:
- Wednesday, Nov. 27: Loss @ Indiana Pacers, 121-114
- Friday, Nov. 29: Win vs. Sacramento Kings, 115-106 (NBA Cup game)
- Sunday, Dec. 1: Loss vs. Dallas Mavericks, 137-131
- Tuesday, Dec. 3: Loss @ LA Clippers, 127-105
Despite going 2-2 in Group Play for the Emirates NBA Cup, the Blazers were eliminated as the 3-1 Houston Rockets advanced out of West Group A.
Where the Trail Blazers rank as of Dec. 5
Experts can't find a consensus on the Blazers, which makes sense, given their confusing roster construction and inconsistent play. Here is where the Blazers now rank as of Dec. 5:
Blazers rank | Site | Updated |
|---|---|---|
23 (-3) | NBA | Dec. 2 |
24 (+1) | ESPN | Dec. 4 |
25 | The Athletic | Dec. 3 |
26 (-1) | Bleacher Report | Nov. 29 |
27 (-1) | NBC Sports | Dec. 4 |
Note: NBC Sports replaced last week's CBS Sports ranking due to a more recent update.
The major outlets have varying opinions when it comes to where the Blazers stand amongst the rest of the league, as their ranking ranges all the way from 23 to 27. Still, the majority have Portland trending in the wrong direction, with three of five outlets dropping them in the rankings from last week.
The Blazers' average power ranking is now 25, which is lower than last week's average. It's also one spot lower from where Portland currently sits in the overall NBA standings with an 8-14 record. One could make a case for the Blazers to be slightly higher, given their record and competitive play against a grueling schedule to start 2024-25, with just two of their 22 games coming against Eastern Conference teams.
But it's also understandable why the Blazers are trending downward overall. They have the fourth-worst point differential in the league (-8.2) and back-to-back losses against the Clippers and Mavericks, contributing to a more significant, concerning trend.
After uncharacteristically stringing together three consecutive wins in mid-November, the Blazers have lost six of their last eight games. During that rough patch, their point differential has ballooned to -12.25, worse than Utah's -10.4 on the season and only better than Washington's (15.8) and New Orleans' (12.7). The Blazers' true bottom-of-the-barrel test will come Friday at home against the Jazz.
There are two conflicting silver linings in their recent poor play, depending on how you view the Blazers' season. They have the talent to overcome their current hurdle, which can be chalked up to injuries to key players, including Donovan Clingan, Robert Williams III, Scoot Henderson, and Matisse Thybulle. That said, they could also be regressing to the mean, playing more in line with their point differential and key statistics—particularly their bottom-five offensive rating.
Hopefully, for the Blazers' sake, it's one of these two outcomes. The last thing they want to do is finish as a lottery team with no hope of making the playoffs and a very minimal chance of landing a top pick in a loaded 2025 class. If the Blazers were wise, they'd lean towards the latter, even if that means trading key established players at the deadline.