Blazers Won't 'Eff With The Game' By Manipulating Postseason Matchups
The Los Angeles Lakers, unsurprisingly, did their longtime rivals in the Pacific Northwest no favors on Saturday, taking care of business against the short-handed Indiana Pacers.
The defending champions' 122-115 win ensured the Trail Blazers' postseason fate rests on Sunday's season finale versus the Denver Nuggets. A victory means Portland will snag the West's sixth or fifth playoff seed, meeting the Denver Nuggets or LA Clippers on the road in the first round. A loss would likely send the Blazers down to the play-in tournament, where they'd face the Golden State Warriors or Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday at Moda Center.
Friday's slate of games marked a turning point for the Western Conference, too, with the Clippers setting the precedent of tanking these final games to manipulate postseason seeds.
Absent Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and many more, LA gave the anonymous Houston Rockets just their fourth win in the last 26 games. Why? The loss pushed the Clippers to fourth in the West, ensuring they'd avoid a potential Staples Center series with the Lakers until the Conference Finals.
LA controls its destiny to stay at four. Denver owns the tie-breaker over Ty Lue's team if they finish with the same record. A loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday would lock the Clippers into fourth and the Nuggets into third no matter what happens at Moda Center.
LA's blatant tank job sparked chatter in Rip City about whether the Blazers should do the same, losing to Denver with the goal of setting up a 3-6 rematch in the first round of the playoffs. The Lakers' win over the Pacers scuttles that plan. But some around Portland have gone so far as to suggest the Blazers should lose intentionally anyway, dropping down to the play-in and hoping to survive it for a first-round tilt with the Phoenix Suns.
If those machinations have your head spinning, fear not. Terry Stotts, he clarified on Saturday after shootaround, would never tempt wrath of the basketball gods by following the Clippers' lead.
"My general feeling for years has been don't eff with the game, you know?" Stotts said. "To me, karma can be a bitch and be careful what you wish for. We're gonna play the game and compete and try to win the game, stay out of the play-in game. That's kind of our mindset."
Damian Lillard isn't quite as concerned with basketball's higher powers. Just like his coach, though, he doesn't see the need for the Blazers to seek out specific teams in the postseason.
As his team's past failures and successes have made abundantly clear, Lillard believes anyone can beat or lose to anyone when the West gets even wilder in the playoffs – no matter what the regular season's results portend.
"A few years ago we beat up on New Orleans and they swept us. And then the following year OKC beat up on us in the regular season then we ended up beating them," he said. "I think the way that we're playing right now and the fact that the postseason is a completely different game, we're not avoiding nobody or seeking anybody out."
Playing to win on Sunday wouldn't just align with Stotts' superstition and Lillard's confidence. Staying out of the play-in would also give Portland a few days of additional rest, extra crucial during a truncated season that at times left Lillard, in particular, more physically drained than ever.
Either way, the Blazers' team leader isn't afraid of any potential playoff foe. Lillard knows its a different game when the stakes of late spring and early summer heighten.
"I think every matchup in the playoffs this season could go either way," he said. "I don't think it's gonna be no – especially you got Golden State right now at eight, the Lakers at seven...I don't think there's no matchup that nobody's gonna go into the first round this year like, 'Uhh, that's a wash.' We haven't played well against the Clippers in the regular season this year, but as we all know, the postseason is a completely different thing."