Blazers Have Work to Do If They Want .500 Goal

The Portland Trail Blazers have 19 games left on the schedule, and if they want to get to .500 for the first time in five years, they need to win at least 11 of those contests.

Bleacher Report writer Grant Hughes believes it is doable, but thinks the team will fall short at 39-43.

"Deni Avdija has missed four straight games with a lingering back injury, the Blazers are dropping some seriously ugly losses (like the 34-point beatdown at the hands of the Hawks on March 1) and the offense is looking more listless than ever. That would normally be a recipe for a major slide in the standings, but the Blazers have 10 games remaining (counting Memphis on March 4) against tanking teams," Hughes wrote.

"Take care of business in those, pick up a couple of wins against competition that's actually trying and 40 wins should be attainable.

"Fortunately for the Blazers, they may not even need to get out of the high 30s to secure their Play-In spot. Currently 10th and unlikely to move much higher, Portland has zero fear of the No. 11 Grizzlies catching up. Memphis has packed it in to an extreme degree, which could allow the Blazers to play well below .500 the rest of the way without negative consequences in the standings."

Blazers Can Get to .500 This Season

Memphis Grizzlies forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper dribbles as Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson defends. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Trail Blazers are fortunate to have the league's easiest schedule from now until the end of the season. In their last 19 games, 10 come against teams that are currently outside of the playoff picture.

If the Trail Blazers were to win all ten of those games, they will hit 40 wins. They would just need to win one more against a playoff-caliber team to reach their .500 goal.

Ultimately, the primary goal for the Blazers should be to make it to the Play-In tournament, however it is possible. However, reaching the .500 mark should be something the Trail Blazers work towards as they try to play their best basketball in the home stretch of the season.

The Trail Blazers are one game back of the No. 9 seed and two back of the No. 8 seed and both are significantly better than the previous placement, so Portland should try to do everything in its power to finish as high as they can in the standings to help their chances in the Play-In Tournament.