The Portland Trail Blazers should make a run at the play-in tournament, according to one longtime Blazers writer and reporter.
The Athletic (subscription required) put together goals for all 30 NBA teams for the rest of the season. Writing the Blazers’ section was Jason Quick, who thinks Portland should ignore lottery odds and take a stab at the postseason:
Make the Play-In: After an inspiring 15-7 run since mid-January, here are the Blazers, within four games of wounded Dallas for the 10th and final Play-In spot. For the first time in four years, the spring months in Portland should not be spent chasing better lottery odds, but instead a postseason berth. Even if the four games is too much to overcome, the value in playing meaningful games in March and April will be invaluable to the development of this young core. To get in the Play-In, Portland will have to earn it: 13 of its 20 remaining games are against teams with winning records, including two against Boston, two against New York and two against Golden State. During Portland’s 15-7 run, it is 3-7 against teams with winning records.
There are now 19 games left to make up four games... but the calculus about strength of schedule shifts drastically near the end of any season, where good and bad teams alike may be sitting players, either to keep them fresh for the playoffs or to earn slightly better lottery odds. Given that, it matters less that the majority of Portland’s games are against winning teams.
And while the Blazers hold the NBA’s sixth-hardest remaining schedule, the honor for most difficult schedules go to the Phoenix Suns (a game and a half up on the Blazers) and the Sacramento Kings (five games ahead), with the hardest and second-hardest schedules respectively. Dallas is 21st, but without Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving - and with vibes worse than a gas station Subway at 10:58pm - they have a very real chance of sliding.
Whether you’re pro-lottery or pro-playoffs, the last quarter of the season should make for plenty of standings watching from now until the middle of April.