The Trail Blazers have seemingly been locked into the 10th spot in the West for much of the past two months, and as it stands right now are equally as far from dropping out of the play-in to 11th as they are from jumping over the Lakers for the ninth position. With no team 7th through 12th in the West going better than 5-5 over their last ten games (Portland is 5-5), there has been little movement in the bottom half of the Western Conference standings in recent weeks. A jam-packed slate of games with mixed results for Portland has stalled their rise up the weekly power rankings following a promising 6-2 stretch in weeks prior.
Portland’s defense helped fuel them to some valuable road wins over the eight-game span prior to this week. Neither defense nor road wins have been synonymous with the Trail Blazers this season, but they finished the road trip having tripled their road win total on the season allowing just 106 ppg, 6.7 points better than their season average. Unfortunately, the team defense has stumbled since, allowing 120.3 ppg across this week’s four-game slate, 7.6 points worse than their season average.
Portland has, however, exhibited consistency on the offensive side this week, operating extremely efficiently over the last six games. The Trail Blazers rank first in the league in 3PM per game (16.5), 3P% (44.6%), and EFG% (59.6%) over the last six games. Portland is also averaging 24.5 APG as a team over that span including three consecutive 25+ assist performances. The ball is moving and players are getting open looks. When the defense has been there, this team has found ways to get it done, but they had stretches against the Mavericks and Bulls this week in which they gave up big in-game runs that proved to be insurmountable in the end.
Portland kicked off week 16 at home with a hard-fought close game against the Timberwolves but ultimately fell short losing 107-109. The Trail Blazers, who had been strong at home to start the year, then lost the second of two home games on a short home stint, falling to the Mavericks 112-132. It was the eighth time Portland has allowed 130+ points per 100 possessions in a game this season. To make matters worse, Nassir Little went down late against the Mavericks with a shoulder injury. Little, who has grown into an energetic defensive stopper and highlight-reel machine on offense, will miss the remainder of the season with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Following the unfortunate events of the Mavericks game, Portland hit the road yet again and took care of business against the Rockets on the first of four road games behind one of the more efficient offensive performances of the season shooting 56.8% FG and 43.6% 3P. Portland then lost to the Bulls in Chicago 116-130 on the first of a back-to-back, marking the ninth time this season Portland has allowed 130+ points per 100 possessions.
Just when it seems the Trail Blazers are gaining momentum and finding consistency in their defensive identity, another up-and-down week brings those things into question. A carousel of injuries has forced the Trail Blazers to rely on a next-man-up mentality. With almost everyone missing time at some point this season, Portland hasn’t been able to field the starting lineup they began the season with since November. Nassir Little’s injury news comes on the heels of Norman Powell’s return to the lineup after missing eight games. CJ McCollum has been back in the lineup for eight games now and has been scoring 21.6 PPG in that span. His running mate, Damian Lillard will remain out for a while rehabbing from abdominal surgery. Fortunately, Anfernee Simons has proven to be quite the reliable scorer in that role scoring at a 21.0 PPG clip since McCollum has been back. Simons has been making 4.5 threes per game in the month of January, good for second-most in the league over that span.
The frontcourt remains thin with Cody Zeller and Larry Nance out with injuries. One player who has really taken advantage of the available minutes in their absence is Trendon Watford. The undrafted rookie contributed 10 points and three blocks in 22 minutes against the Bulls on Sunday. Coach Chauncey Billups reaffirmed his trust in Watford despite his limited experience saying, “You can play him at the four, you can play him at the five. You just have to have him out there… He does winning things to impact the game.” If nothing else, this injury-laden season has provided more available minutes and opportunities for the development of young players in Portland.
Upon the conclusion of this current four-game road trip, Portland will return home to Moda Center for five straight home games, four of which come against teams currently below .500. The Trail Blazers will have the opportunity to get their homecourt swagger back before heading into the All-Star break. There has been little movement to the power rankings for Portland after a less-than-stellar week thanks to less-than-stellar weeks from teams near them in the rankings. Coming in as high as No. 19 and as low as No. 22, here’s where the Trail Blazers sit in the 16th edition of the weekly power rankings.
• John Schuhmann at NBA.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 21 this week, one spot worse than last week...
Schuhmann has the Trail Blazers behind the Lakers at No. 20 and ahead of the Wizards at No. 22.
• The panel of voters at ESPN has the Trail Blazers at No. 22 this week, the same as last week...
The folks at ESPN have the Trail Blazers behind the Knicks at No. 21 and ahead of the Pelicans at No. 23.
• Zach Harper at The Athletic has the Trail Blazers at No. 21 this week, the same as last week...
Harper has the Trail Blazers behind the Wizards at No. 20 and ahead of the Pacers at No. 21.
• Howard Beck at Sports Illustrated has the Trail Blazers at No. 19 this week, three spots better than last week...
Beck has the Trail Blazers behind the Clippers at No. 18 and ahead of the Lakers at No. 20.