The NBA season is set to restart on July 30th and the race for the 8th seed will be in its final stretch. 8 regular season games to decide the last playoff team, with potentially play-in games for that final spot. Today, we look at the Blazers’ case to make it.
There’s no doubt about it: Out of all the teams in running for 8th, no one has a better player and leader that the Blazers have in Damian Lillard. Lillard was one of the hottest players since the turn of the year and has shown that he can get things done on his own. You could also argue that the Blazers have the best #2 option in C.J. McCollum.
If there’s one player who will be completely ready for this restart, it’s Dame. He’s one of the biggest professionals on the court and has more experience than all of the other teams. They can aim for 8th, as they’re only 3.5 games back, but definitely have to hold on to that 9th seed and stay within 4 games to get those play-in games.
2 huge pieces for the Blazers, Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins, are both returning. Nurkic was set to play in one of the next 2 games before the season got cancelled, and Collins was on track to complete a late March comeback. Both had a starting role prior to getting injured, but they might be deployed off the bench when the season restarts.
Unfortunately, Portland still misses Rodney Hood, who has also been out for almost the entire season, after an Achilles-tear. Hood was amazing in the playoffs against Denver last year, as he gave the Blazers defense and shot-making since being acquired at the trade deadline.
No matter what, the pair gives the Blazers a huge amount of size to potentially deal with the Lakers. Defense, rim protection and rebounding have been a struggle all season long for the Blazers, as Nassir Little, Mario Hezonja, Caleb Swanigan, Anthony Tolliver, Wenyen Gabriel and Skal Labissière all have played at the backup or even starting 5 and 4 spots. A 6’10 power forward and 6’11 center will take a lot of those troubles away, definitely with Hassan Whiteside, a statistical monster, still in the mix.
The Blazers also get a nice bit of depth. With the playoffs around, Dame and C.J. will be playing more minutes, potentially leaving the underperforming Anfernee Simons out of the rotation. Dame, C.J., Ariza, Collins and Whiteside will most likely for the starting 5 with Trent, Melo, Nurkic and then a mix of Hezonja/Little/Gabriel/Swanigan/Simons coming off the bench. McCollum is more than capable of running point when Dame gets his 8 minutes of rest.
The Blazers might even surprise some teams. The Lakers most definitely do not want to face them. Damian Lillard had a 48-point, 10-assist night on January 31st, in the first game at Staples since Kobe’s passing. The Lakers’ weakness is its backcourt, as they have no one to guard or go toe-to-toe with Lillard. And the Nurkic/Collins/Whiteside/Gabriel combination gives the Blazers a lot of size and rim protection to deal with the Lakers 3 of Davis/McGee/Howard. It will all come down to the stars.
Courtside 