Can Blazers claw their way back into contention?

The Trail Blazers are only 18-18 since a 31-9 start, but they've won four consecutive games.

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Since Portland started this modest streak, which feels like an extended surge in light of their two-month malaise, Aldridge has declined to cut his nails. They have grown long enough that he broke one against the Grizzlies, another against the Lakers. But he won't get a manicure until the Blazers lose. As he left the locker room at Staples Center on Tuesday, he glanced down at his talons and laughed, a convenient symbol for a team trying to claw its way back.