For the second consecutive week, we’re bringing back the “Jerami Grant Thumbs Down” cover photo to mark the Portland Trail Blazers dropping in the latest NBA power rankings.
It was a gloomy week in Rip City, as the Blazers lost three straight games, including a 42-point home beatdown to the woeful Utah Jazz on Friday. The losses are part of a larger four-game losing streak, and they lowered Portland to 8-16 on the season.
The stretch was enough to knock the Blazers down five spots in NBA.com writer John Schuhmann’s weekly power rankings, as they moved from No. 23 to No. 28. The week before last, the Blazers stood at a healthy No. 20 on the countdown.
In Schuhmann’s three takeaways accompanying Portland’s No. 28 ranking, he highlighted the Blazers’ tanking defense and blowout frequency, along with a rough stretch for guard Anfernee Simons.
The Blazers ranked 17th defensively through Nov. 30, a nice improvement for a team that ranked 23rd on that end of the floor last season and no higher than 27th in the four seasons before that. But they allowed an amazing 135 points per 100 possessions in their first three games this month to fall back into the bottom 10. And it’s not like they were facing three great offenses; Two of the three opponents — the Clippers and Jazz — rank in the bottom 10 offensively.
Over the last five seasons (since 2020-21), the Blazers have now lost 10 games by at least 40 points, with no other team having more than four losses by 40-plus over that stretch. This season’s Blazers are now 8-16 with the point differential (minus-9.6 per game, third worst) of a team that’s 5-19.
Anfernee Simons had a solid stretch of three games ending with 27 points on 8-for-11 shooting against Dallas eight days ago. But he’s shot just 13-for-39 (including 3-for-19 from 3-point range) over the last three. Simons has seen a drop in usage rate, but also a big drop in efficiency from last season.
The Blazers ranked one spot ahead of the No. 29 New Orleans Pelicans and one spot behind the No. 27 Jazz.