Portland Trail Blazers Entering Brutal, Season-Defining Stretch Of Schedule

Email to a friend Permalink

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Bryant Knox, Oregon Sports News

The Portland Trail Blazers entered Thursday's nationally televised contest against the Houston Rockets as the hottest team in the NBA. They’d won 15 of their last 18 games, and as Bleacher Report’s Josh Martin stated following Monday's victory over the Brooklyn Nets, “Come playoff time, no Western Conference club will be safe in the first round—not even the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.”

Although the Blazers ultimately dropped that contest against Houston, they look as if they have upset potential written all over them when the postseason rolls around. But there's one small detail to consider: In order to even make the playoffs, they have to keep their momentum going into a tough late-season stretch that’s right around the corner.

Following the home showdown with Houston—a team that is loaded with enough talent to ignore its chemistry issues in Thursday’s massive comeback—the Blazers hit the road on an East-Coast swing. The trip begins Saturday, Feb. 27 in Chicago and wraps on Sunday, March 6 against the Detroit Pistons. 

This stretch also includes a Boston Celtics team that decided it was playing well enough it didn’t need a superstar at the trade deadline, as well as the Toronto Raptors, who have a legitimate claim as the East’s No. 2 team behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Despite coming off a six-game road trip, the Blazers won't have much of a chance to enjoy the familiar confines of the Moda Center. Following a home game against the Washington Wizards, Portland travel south to face the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Then the team gets one single home contest against the Orlando Magic before hitting the road to consecutively  face four-fifths of the Southwest Division.

The four-game trip ends on Saturday, March 20 against the Dallas Mavericks, who will be fighting with Portland for playoff positioning late in the year. And then wouldn't you know it, the Blazers’ next game at home happens to be against the same feisty Mavs (followed by yet another road contest, this time against the Los Angeles Clippers.)

To close out the year, the schedule lightens up; however there are challenges still ahead. With two gimmes in the Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings immediately after the Clippers, Portland gets its second matchup of the year against the Celtics followed by a game with the Miami Heat. Then it's back on the road to face the Warriors, who aren’t going to let Damian Lillard score 51 points with their pursuit of the single-season win record likely still in sight.

Although the season finale sees Portland taking on a very winnable game against the Denver Nuggets, the stretch that comes before it will have as much impact on this playoff positioning as any other stretch throughout the year. The Blazers currently hold the seventh spot out West, tied with the Dallas Mavericks for sixth (Mavs own the tiebreaker) and one game ahead of those pesky Rockets. 

Related Articles

• Portland Trail Blazers-Inspired Adult Beverages That Should Exist In Rip City
• Portland Trail Blazers’ Aminu to Participate in First NBA Game in Africa
• Portland Trail Blazers’ Salary Commitments
• Portland Trail Blazers Weekend Preview & Predictions – 1/30
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – Feb. 25
• Portland Trail Blazers’ Frenzied Offseason Has Been Part of the Plan All Along
• Portland Trail Blazers’ Playoff Heat Check: January Edition
• Synergy Over Seeding For The Trail Blazers Down the Home Stretch
• The Best and Worst Drafts in Trail Blazers History
• So Far, Odds Makers Not Betting On Trail Blazers
• Should The Trail Blazers Retire Brandon Roy’s Number?
• Should The Portland Trail Blazers Trade CJ McCollum?
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – Feb. 2
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – Dec. 9
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – 12/1
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – 2/2
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview - Nov. 24
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview - Jan. 12
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview & Predictions – 2/9
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – 3/10
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – 3/16
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – 4/6
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – 3/4
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – 3/30
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – 3/24
• The Portland Trail Blazers Begin Summer League Play This Weekend
• The Trail Blazers Make A Series Of Trades On Draft Night
• Trail Blazers’ Success Can Only Be Gauged by the Playoffs
• What Merits a Retired Number For the Portland Trail Blazers?
• Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard Releases New Rap Song
• Trail Blazers vs. Lakers: Why Friday’s Game is So Important
• Trail Blazers Roundtable: Impact, Injuries, Predictions, and Paychecks
• What The Portland Trail Blazers Can Learn From The NBA Finals
• What to Give to Each Portland Trail Blazer this Christmas
• Why The Trail Blazers Should Retire Jerome Kersey’s Number 25
• Who Will Be the Next Portland Trail Blazers Villain?
• Which Young Bench Player For The Portland Trail Blazers Will Step Up?
• What’s Next for the Portland Trail Blazers
• Trail Blazers Preview: Three Upcoming Games
• Trail Blazers Power Forward Meyers Leonard Gets Hitched
• Three Questions for the Portland Trail Blazers
• Trail Blazer Fans Hopeful For New Rising Stars
• The Trail Blazers’ Offseason Plans
• The Trail Blazers’ Lost Weekend
• Will The Portland Trail Blazers Have a ‘Top Ten Defense’ This Season?
• The Trail Blazers Set Their Sights On 2 Players
• Trail Blazers Acquire Anderson Varejão in 3 Team Trade
• Trail Blazers Bulk Up Frontline By Signing Ed Davis
• Trail Blazers Mid-season Review
• Trail Blazers Great Jerome Kersey Dies at 52
• Trail Blazers Confirm Allen Crabbe’s Spot on Roster
• Trail Blazers C.J. McCollum Predicted to be Most Improved of 2015-16
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview & Predictions – 2/3
• Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview & Predictions – 2/25
• It’s Time For The Portland Trail Blazers To Commit To Terry Stotts
• NEW: Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview - Jan. 5
• Kobe Bryant’s Retirement Puts To Rest Trail Blazers’ Dead Rivalry With Lakers
• Inner Struggle: Should the Portland Trail Blazers Try to Make the Playoffs?
• How to React When Ex-Trail Blazers Come Back to Play Against Portland
• How the NFL Can Learn From the Portland Trail Blazers
• LaMarcus Aldridge Likely Leaving the Portland Trail Blazers
• Meet The New Trail Blazers: Gerald Henderson And Noah Vonleh
• NEW: What Oregon and Ohio State Can Teach the Trail Blazers
• No Whining for Trail Blazers Fans
• NEW: Portland Trail Blazers Week Preview – Dec. 15
• Neil Olshey, Portland Trail Blazers Won’t Talk ‘Playoffs, Lottery’

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink