It is unrealistic to expect the Portland Trail Blazers to win ten of their eleven remaining games.
However, Saturday’s 114-98 loss to Minnesota was unacceptable on a number of grounds.
The Blazers had a fantastic opportunity to begin their three-game trip with a road victory because the Timberwolves were missing three important players: Mike Conley Jr., Julius Randle, and Anthony Edwards.
By doing this, the Blazers would have been under less pressure in their next two games, which are on Monday and Wednesday away at Denver (34-19).
Rather, the Blazers lost the game because they were unable to shoot the ball into the ocean from a boat in the fourth quarter (13.6%).
Naturally, these things do happen, but they can be expensive when you’re chasing multiple teams to make it to the postseason after blowing a chance to finish in the top five of the NBA draft lottery by winning 10 of 11 going into the weekend.
The Blazers (23-30), who are currently ranked 13th in the Western Conference, were only two games out of 10th place going into Saturday. They finished Saturday tied for eighth place, three games behind Sacramento (26-26), Golden State (26-26), and Phoenix (26-26).
The Blazers need to overtake 12th-place San Antonio (22-28) and catch at least two of them in order to advance to the play-in round.
To stay one game ahead of the Blazers, the Spurs suffered a 112-111 loss to Orlando on Saturday.
However, the Kings defeated New Orleans 123-118, while the Warriors defeated Chicago 132-111.
Luckily for the Blazers, the Suns were defeated by Denver 122-105 at home.
On Sunday, none of the five teams vying for ninth and tenth place play. On Monday, four teams are in action.
Monday’s schedule
Washington against. San Antonio (9-43)
Milwaukee at. Golden State (27–23)
Dallas vs. Sacramento (28–25)
Denver to Portland.
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Aaron J. Fentress | [email protected]|@AaronJFentress (Facebook), @AaronFentress (Instagram), and @AaronJFentress (Twitter)
