Can Portland gain some momentum in the standings with a weak upcoming schedule?
The Portland Trail Blazers have a real opportunity to go on a bit of a hot streak over the next two weeks with a fairly favorable schedule, and it all starts with the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. The Pacers are 15-54, losers of 14 straight, and own the worst record in the NBA. Even though that game is on the road, that’s one the Blazers should win.
Now, the two toughest games over this upcoming seven-game stretch come right after that, but even with that in mind, there’s a sneaky opportunity for Portland to pick up wins against teams above them in the Western Conference standings.
On Friday night, the Blazers head to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves, who will be without Anthony Edwards as he deals with a knee injury that’s expected to sideline him for at least the next one to two weeks. And as talented and deep as Minnesota is, the guard position is where they’re most vulnerable without him. Ayo Dosunmu was their big pickup at the trade deadline and has stepped into a starting role, but this is still a game Portland could win against a team that’s had a better overall season.
From there, Sunday afternoon in Denver is the gauntlet of this stretch. That’s the one game where the Blazers will be clear underdogs and realistically don’t have a great chance to come out on top.
After that, though, the schedule really opens up. Portland returns home for a four-game homestand, starting with the Brooklyn Nets, a team the Blazers just beat earlier this week by nearly 20 points.
Then they host the Milwaukee Bucks, who will be without Giannis Antetokounmpo as he deals with an injury. After that, it’s the Dallas Mavericks, who are a lottery team, followed by the Washington Wizards, who have the second-worst record in the NBA.
So in totality, this seven-game stretch includes three of the worst teams in the league in the Pacers, Nets, and Wizards. The Mavericks also have one of the worst records in the NBA. The Bucks are a bottom-10 team and won’t have Giannis.
The Timberwolves are a strong team, but won’t have Edwards. And then there’s the Nuggets as the lone outlier on the schedule.
If Portland can go 5-2, or even 6-1 if things really break right, this is a real opportunity to climb the play-in standings. Given that they’re just one and a half games out of the No. 8 seed, this stretch could go a long way toward building momentum heading into April.