Quote:
Originally Posted by Anyong Bluth
They have already, and have beat 5 of the 7 teams with 20 wins at this point in the season.
Not saying that they'd take the series, but they play well on the road, and home court for Portland would be a huge advantage in making any team out of the West have to earn a series win the honest way.
They're still growing and the reason I give pause on them is come playoff time, they'll need to be better as a team on the defensive side of the ball and find a way to create more turnovers- as they have paltry numbers in the steals department.
That's why the buzz about acquiring Asik is rather intriguing.
On the flip side, their offense can light anyone up in the league, and currently the only team in NBA history to as a whole average over 45% Fg percentage, over 40% from 3, and over 80% at the free throw line.
Damian Lillard is only a 2nd year player and will be 1 of the top 2-3 point guards possibly by next season- look at how Paul George has skyrocketed in his 3rd year, plus check his numbers when facing the other elites in the game. Dude is a b-a-l-l-e-r !
If they pulled out the 1 spot- they'd not only have to face only 1 of the 2 but also get them after OKC or SA just came off a series having to battle one another.
Plus, I think they've found themselves a great find for a head coach.
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Yes, I agree with just about everything here. The Blazers are clearly a threat. But it's still regular season basketball. The playoffs are an entirely new and different test for them. We'll only truly see what they are made of then.