By: Jamal Smith Sports Editor
Earlier this week, the Portland Trail Blazers clinched the fifth seed in the Western Conference and will play the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs.
The fact that the Blazers have even made it to the playoffs is nothing short of amazing. Portland lost four out of their five starters from last year including the cornerstone of the franchise LaMarcus Aldridge. After losing Aldridge to free agency, Neil Olshey, the Blazer’s general manager, decided to rebuild the team with younger talent centered around All-Star point guard Damian Lillard.
After a complete overhaul of their roster, most sports analysts picked Portland to finish near the bottom of the conference. In a Sports Illustrated article published before the start of the season, the Blazers were projected to finish 11th in the conference out of 16 teams with a win percentage of 38.6.
The young Blazers took the early season predictions with a grain of salt, and instead of tanking the season to get a lottery pick, the squad buckled down to prove their naysayers wrong.
After a rough start to the season with a record of 11-20, the Blazers quietly grinded out a string of victories that put them into contention for a playoff spot midway through the season. However, at the top of the conference were the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs who sat comfortably in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively.
Realizing that a first round matchup between either the Spurs or the Warriors could spell a quick postseason exit, a hungry Portland squad continued climbing up the Western Conference ladder, finishing the regular season with a record of 44-38.
“With everybody writing us off … A team like us, we’re the most dangerous team [in the playoffs],” said Ed Davis in an interview with NBA.com. “You don’t really wanna play against a team with nothing to lose, just don’t care what the outcome is. That’s us. We’re gonna be that team that’s gonna fight.”
The fact is, the Blazers have exceeded all expectations, and now they are playing with house money, but the team is not going to be satisfied with a first round elimination.
“We put in our time. It’s been a long season, we believed in ourselves,” said Lillard at the post-game press conference after the Blazers defeated the Denver Nuggets to claim the No. 5 seed. “We’ve played through the tough times, we didn’t get too high off the good times, and here we are. We finally got our spot and our work still isn’t done.”
Portland Trailblazer Playoff Schedule:
Game 1: Sun. April 17 @ LA Clippers 7:30 p.m.
Game 2: Wed, April 20 @ LA Clippers 7:30 p.m.
Game 3: Sat, April 23 @ Portland 7:30 p.m.
Game 4: Mon, April 25 @ Portland 7:30 p.m.
Game 5: Wed, April 27 @ LA Clippers TBA
Game 6: Fri, April 29 @ Portland TBA
Game 7: Sun, May 1 @ LA Clippers TBA
Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU
