ESPN blurb on Blazers' chances:
8. Portland Trail Blazers
Record: 35-39 (.473) | Bubble: 6-2
Vegas title odds: +3000
All
Damian Lillard wanted was a chance. And given one, he and the Trail Blazers did exactly what he thought they could do. Before the shutdown, the Blazers were slogging through a disappointing season filled with injuries and bad breaks, along with sloppy, inconsistent play. But with the time off and a boost in health with the returns of
Jusuf Nurkic and
Zach Collins, the Blazers look like the team they thought they would be.
MVP of the restart: Damian Lillard
There's supposed to be like 60 more words explaining why and using stats and things to show it. But really those 60 words just need to be "Damian" and "Lillard" over and over again. The legend of Dame only increased in the bubble, both in what he did with 40- and 50- and 60-point games, along with
his razor-sharp social skills, clapping right back at
Paul George on Instagram. All belief in the Blazers before the bubble was because they had Dame. And all belief that they could actually do playoff damage is because of him too.
Biggest concern for the play-in
CJ McCollum's injury -- a nondisplaced fracture in his back -- has clearly affected his play. He's battling through it and still is a weapon for Portland, but so much of what made the Trail Blazers dangerous last postseason was the combination play of Lillard and McCollum. As much as Lillard did, especially with memorable moments, it was McCollum who won Game 7 on the road in Denver. If McCollum is limited, Lillard will need to shoulder even more, and look to rising role players such as
Gary Trent Jr. to fill in the gaps.
One big bubble stat
Lillard matched his career high with 61 points in a win against the Mavericks and joined
Wilt Chamberlain as the only players with three 60-point games in a season. Lillard scored 112 points in a two-game span, the sixth most by any player over a two-game span in the past 50 seasons, according to Elias research.
Matchup to watch in the play-in: Lillard vs. Ja Morant
This is the kind of matchup postseason series are made for. The young up-and-coming star against the established, veteran All-Star. One player looking to make a name and a statement, the other trying to grow his legend. The Grizzlies will probably throw multiple defenders at Lillard, and the Blazers will likely do the same to Morant, but at the core of this series it's Lillard and Morant running their teams.
One wild bubble prediction
Lillard gets past Memphis and, during his first-round series against the Lakers, breaks
Michael Jordan's record for most points in a playoff game (63). The Blazers will need everything Lillard has, and with his man-on-a-mission mentality, he is always ready to answer the call. He put 61 on the Mavs already. He can hit one more 3.
-- Young https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29640454/nba-playoffs-2020-everything-know-17-teams-win-title
