The Portland Trail Blazers keep moving on up in the NBA power rankings.
After going 1-1 this past week and 9-3 in the month of January so far, NBA.com’s John Schuhmann moved Portland from No. 18 to No. 17 in the league-wide rankings. The one-spot change comes after the Blazers jumped up two spots in last week’s list.
Schuhmann highlighted how an improved Blazers defense is helping their New Year’s surge.
The Blazers are still not as good a defensive team as they were last season, but the last five games (107.7 points allowed per 100 possessions) have been their best stretch of the season on that end of the floor. They may have had some luck with how poorly their opponents have shot from 3-point range (31% over the five games), but they also rank fourth in opponent free-throw rate this month, up from 28th through Dec. 31.
Schuhmann also noted how important Portland star Deni Avdija is to the team’s success by showing what his absence means for Portland’s offensive numbers. That helps explain why Portland didn’t fare so well in its 110-98 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
The Blazers have scored a pretty anemic 102.1 points per 100 possessions with Avdija off the floor, and they registered their lowest free-throw rate of the season (10 attempts to go along with 98 shots from the field) as they scored just 98 on 97 against Toronto. Nine and a half minutes into the game, they had scored just six points on 19 offensive possessions.
The Blazers have another chance to impress the critics tonight when they take on the Boston Celtics on the road at 5 p.m. PST. It’s the first game of a back-to-back, as the Blazers will also face the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.