THE Portland Trail Blazers have lost three straight games after beating the Atlanta Hawks last Wednesday.
Let’s take a look at how internet power rankings rank the Blazers:
John Schuhmann, NBA.com: n°26 (formerly n°26)
The Blazers were officially eliminated from playoff contention following their loss at New Orleans on Saturday. That’s three straight seasons without a playoff (not even a Play-In appearance), with the fourth-worst record in the league over that span.
The Blazers are the only team in the Western Conference without a win (they are 0-13) against the top four teams in the conference. Their final three chances are a three-game homestand this week where they host the Clippers (x2) and Nuggets.
Brett Siegel, ClutchPoints: n°27 (formerly n°28)
It’s really good to see Deandre Ayton playing well for the Portland Trail Blazers. Over his last five games, Ayton has averaged 27.2 points and 15.0 rebounds per game while shooting 63.2% from the floor. If the Blazers were better and winning games, he would be the Western Conference Player of the Week.
However, Portland is not a good team and they continue to sit near the bottom of the NBA Power Rankings. From there, the future of this organization is clouded. They’ve done nothing to help themselves all year long, and the storylines for them this offseason will revolve around the futures of Jerami Grant, Malcolm Brogdon, and Anfernee Simons.
Colin Ward-Henninger, CBS Sports: n°23 (formerly n°28)
Deandre Ayton attributed his poor start to the season to sleeping on an air mattress – hey, we’ve all been there, right? He’s been on a tear lately, though, averaging 27 points and 14 rebounds this week on 68 percent shooting. He made 33 and 19 against the Hawks in Portland’s only win of the week.
