Portland Trail Blazers Will Win the Northwest Division
By Brian Brennan
@b2brennan
Getty Images
NBA All-Star weekend is upon us, so it’s a good time to reflect on the first half of the season as well as look into the second half. The Portland Trail Blazers have a had a pretty successful first half and will look to continue that form after the break. I predict they will keep it up and win the Northwest division.
The race between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Trail Blazers hasn’t been as tight as expected, but a lot of that was due to injury. The Thunder have had big injuries to Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, but Portland has had their fair share of injuries as well. With both teams getting healthy again, it will be a great race in the second half of the season.
There are two pretty remarkable statistics to me right now, with one being the main reason why I think Portland will win the division. First, the Trail Blazers have the exact same record as last season going into the All-Star break when they tied for fifth place in the Western Conference. This year they are tied for third, but they have missed key players for long stretches, most notably LaMarcus Aldridge and Robin Lopez.
The other statistic is if the Trail Blazers play average basketball (15-14 in the final 29 games), the Thunder will need to go 23-6 in order to have the same record. I expect it to be very unlikely the Trail Blazers play that poorly. I do think the Thunder will be able to play at the 23-6 pace, but the hole they are in right now is just too deep to dig out of.
The Trail Blazers have used the Thunder’s woes to their advantage and have an eight-game lead on their closest opponent at this point of the season. The Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves have basically no chance this year, so it is down to a two-team race in the Northwest division.
The Trail Blazers and Thunder meet twice in the second half of the season, and they might be the two most important games for both teams. I see Portland capturing the division for only the second time since 2000 and the first time since 2009. Let’s hope I didn’t just jinx them.
Brian Brennan is a Portland Trail Blazers writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @b2brennan.
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