Over the last few weeks, there has been plenty of talk that the Trail Blazers might give the Lakers a series even before Portland had officially qualified for the 2020 NBA Playoffs, and for multiple and reasonable reasons. The Trail Blazers are just a season removed from making the Western Conference Finals, they’re not exactly the same team that limped their way through the first four months of the regular season, Damian Lillard has proved nearly unguardable in Orlando and the Lakers are thin at the guard positions, so of the teams fighting for the eight-seed in Orlando, the Blazers seemed like the best equipped to pull off a rare 1-8 upset.
So, for the sake of posterity, here are a collection of NBA media making their predictions for the 1-8 series between the Trail Blazers and Lakers...
• ESPN has 17 people making playoff predictions. Eleven picked the Lakers to win in six games, four have picked the Lakers to win in five games and one has the series going seven games, with the Lakers ultimately advancing.
But only one person, Andre’ Snellings, has picked to the Trail Blazers to win the series, and in seven games. Shoutout to Andre’.
• The crew at CBS Sports all have the Trail Blazers losing to the Lakers, with seven of the eight picking Portland to lose in either five or six games. One writer, Jasmyn Wimbish, has the Trail Blazers being swept in four games.
• Sam Amick and Josh Robbins at The Athletic surveyed various coaches, scouts and NBA executives, and they all picked the Lakers to win...
• John Hollinger at The Athletic has the Lakers winning in a Gentleman’s Sweep...
• Anthony Slater, also at The Athletic, has Trail Blazers’ season ending in five games...