NBA Power Rankings week 12: injury fallout, OKC Thunder highs and lows

Portland Trail Blazers:

Offense: (109.5) 14th
Defense: ( 111.8 24th
Net: (minus -2.3) 19th

Games Week 12 (1-2): Won vs. Raptors: 101-99, Lost vs. Wolves: 102-116, Bucks: 101-122
Games Week 13 (4 games): Mon vs. Hornets | Weds at Rockets | Fri at Mavericks | Sat at Thunder

The Blazers lucked out on a no-call in Toronto when Hassan Whiteside was permitted a hip check illegal screen on Rondae Hollis-Jefferson that sent the Raptors player flying. That allowed a wide-open Dame Lillard 3-pointer to tie the game.

Carmelo Anthony scored and that resulted in the Blazers winning a match they led all of 17 seconds. File this under the column of one of those five wins a team gets every season they had no business winning.

Portland will need more than luck as they enter a scary schedule segment of 11 out of their next 14 games facing playoff seeds and six of those games are on the road. Dive a little deeper through the next 17 games and although they don’t have additional playoff seeds in that period those extra three games (plus one prior) include the Spurs, Grizzlies, and Pelicans twice — all teams in that chase pack and consequently the three teams in that group performing the best.

Let’s put it this way the Blazers have four wins versus the upper tier with two of those wins against the OKC Thunder early in the season and that wonky whistle aided win in Toronto. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement for a team that expected to emulate last season’s success.

Don’t be surprised if the Blazers solidify their ranking prior to the end of February — as a lottery seed!