Originally posted on Hoops Rumors | By Arthur Hill | Last updated 5/22/21
Trail Blazers players won’t be thinking about saving coach Terry Stotts‘ job when they open their playoff series with the Nuggets tonight, CJ McCollum tells Jason Quick of The Athletic. Stotts is rumored to be among a handful of coaches who are in jeopardy if they suffer an early exit in the postseason. He has one year left on his current contract with a salary of more than $6 million.
McCollum made it clear that the players support Stotts, but there are other motivating factors.
“You have no control over those things,” he said.
Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
The Trail Blazers put together a wire-to-wire victory over the Nuggets to conclude the 2020-21 regular season. That win pushed Portland’s record to 42-30, a far cry from the direction that coach Terry Stotts’ squad was trending towards during an abysmal stretch of results in April.
After Sunday’s game, The Oregonian’s Aaron Fentress highlighted Damian Lillard’s comments regarding the Blazers’ resolve.
“I think there is something to be said about our effort, year after year after year, regardless of what the circumstances are,” Lillard said. “Regardless of the adversity we run into, at whatever point in the season, we find a way.
Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images
The Trail Blazers vs. Nuggets series has the potential to deliver fireworks early and often. On Monday, ESPN’s staff took a deep dive into storylines for each team in the 2021 NBA Playoffs. When it came to Portland and Denver, offense and defensive concerns dominated the conversation.
For the Blazers, ESPN contributor Royce Young raised concerns over Portland’s fluctuating rotations. Young listed the Blazers’ bench as the biggest issue for coach Terry Stotts’ squad heading into the postseason.
The bench. The Blazers adjusted their roster to focus on wing defense, but they still are in search of their best seven or eight players. Their bench has been spotty, with Enes Kanter and Carmelo Anthony’s minutes expectedly coinciding with dips on the defensive end. But they also need to complement non-Lillard minutes with offense. It’s been a challenge for Portland all season to find stable rotations, and as they head into playoff ba
NBA power rankings: Portland Trail Blazers’ hot late-season play keeps them near top 10
Updated May 11, 2021;
Posted May 11, 2021
Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum (#3) mixes it up with the Lakers’ bench as the Portland Trail Blazers face the Los Angeles Lakers with limited fans in attendance at Moda Center on Friday, May 7, 2021. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
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After 69 games and five months of a truncated NBA season, the Portland Trail Blazers are finally playing their best basketball.
And heading into the final week, the Blazers remain at or near the top 10 in the latest batch of NBA power rankings.
The Blazers (40-29), who have won eight of their last nine games to surge into sixth place in the Western Conference, opened the week with a 140-129 victory over the Houston Rockets and control their own destiny in the race to avoid the postseason play-in tournament.
Blazers Huge Back-To-Back Moved To National Television
Portland s games against the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns could have huge playoff implications.
Author:
Portland s games against the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns could have huge playoff implications.
Trail Blazers fans won t be the only ones closely watching their team s tough finish to the regular season. A nationwide audience, it turns out, will be joining them.
The league announced on Monday that Portland s back-to-back road games against the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz this week have been flexed to national television, a nod to their potential importance in the tightly-packed Western Conference standings.