Can Blazers claw their way back into contention?

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.

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.