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What’s good y’all. It’s Prince here with another Layup Lines, and I want to talk about the Portland Trail Blazers for a minute, because did anyone see them being the best team in the NBA through the first week of the season?
I certainly did not, and I was as optimistic about them as anyone this season. Though I picked them to finish under their preseason win total of 39.5, I thought they’d push for the play-in tournament.
But after a 4-0 start to the season, including wins over the Suns, Nuggets and Lakers, Portland’s over is starting to feel like a lock and the playoffs don’t seem so farfetched either. Sure, it’s still early, and this could all go downhill in a hurry, but there are reasons to believe they can keep it up…
…we maybe should have even seen it coming.
It all starts with Damian Lillard, who was deservedly named to the NBA 75 list last year even though his inclusion was endlessly debated. Too much was made about his lack of championships and not enough about how he took a usually flawed Blazers team to the playoffs in eight straight years, including an unlikely conference finals appearance in 2019.
Doing more with less isn’t new territory for him, and Portland quietly re-tooled over their last couple years of decline. The rise of 2018 first-rounder Anfernee Simons made C.J. McCollum expendable. McCollum landed the team a key starter in Josh Hart, and trading him while Lillard was out made them just bad enough to draft Shaedon Sharpe, who’s coming along nicely.
Add in the continued development of 2019 first-rounder Nassir Little, a healthy Jusuf Nurkic and Portland’s one big offseason pickup, Jerami Grant, and you got the makings of squad Lillard can work with. He’s averaging 33 points right now. They also picked up Gary Payton II, who hasn’t even played a game yet.
The Blazers are fun. They rank top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating — seventh in net rating. They aren’t winning a title by any means, but this is a team people should start paying attention to.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
The Blazers aren’t the only surprise team to get off to a blazing hot start. The Jazz and Spurs are right behind them in the standings at 3-1 entering Wednesday night, and what?!
What exactly is happening here?
Well, those situations may be a little more fluke than the one in Portland. Our guy Sykes wrote about 6 way-too-early trends you should and shouldn’t buy this season, and let’s just say he’s not a believer.
“The Jazz have wins over the Nuggets, Timberwolves and Pelicans — three legitimate playoff teams. The Spurs have beaten the 76ers, Pacers and Wolves, which isn’t too bad either.
But, still, we shouldn’t believe in these teams. At all. Of course, they’re rosters of NBA players. And anytime you step on the court you can get a win. But the Spurs are 3-1 with a -0.9 net rating right now, which isn’t believable at all. On the flip side, the Jazz have Kelly Olynyk and Jarred Vanderbilt who are shooting 61% from the floor and looking like All-Stars.
None of that will last. These two will eventually fall into place at the bottom of the standings. They’re just catching some teams by surprise right now. It happens.”
I would have to agree. I’m not even sure these teams want to be winning right now.
One to Watch
(All odds via Tipico.)
Miami Heat (-150) at Portland Trail Blazers (+3.5, +120), O/U 219.5, 10 PM ET
After all the nice things I said about Portland, I feel like I’m setting myself up by picking them to cover against the Heat here. But I’m going to do it anyway. Miami has been the opposite of Portland, a team with high expectations that has come out the gates flat to start the year 1-3. If the Blazers’ hot shooting continues in this one, they’ll not only cover 3.5 points, but they’ll stay undefeated.
Shootaround
— Best bets for Wednesday’s double-header on ESPN.
— Why did Ivica Zubac launch this full-court shot? And almost make it.
— Jordan Clarkson is BALLING. Here’s what it means for his trade value.
— Klay Thompson and Devin Booker got into it, prompting this 4-finger response.
