Blazers Running Their Own Race vs. Warriors, Clippers

The Portland Trail Blazers are in a very tight race to get the best position possible for the play-in tournament, which is set to take place next month.

In the tournament, four teams will enter, but only two will claim the final spots in the postseason. While a lot of the Blazers outcome will be determined by how the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers perform. The Trail Blazers are keeping their focus on themselves and how to improve from within.

"Yeah, you know it's getting really close to the play-in, so for sure we are paying attention to it, but honestly just trying to stay focused on ourselves. Keep driving, keep putting wins together," Trail Blazers center Robert Williams III said.

Trail Blazers Not Worried About Warriors, Clippers

At the end of the day, the Trail Blazers are going to have to be at least one of these teams in the play-in tournament in order to move on to the postseason. However, there are so many things that are out of their control when it comes to this. The Blazers need to emphasize what works best for them, and that is the only way a team in the NBA can function at this point in the season.

Giving attention to other teams will not do much, if anything at all. Ultimately, the Trail Blazers can only blame themselves if they do not perform up to their own expectations. Sure, injuries are part of the game, and seeing Stephen Curry on the sidelines down the stretch of the year is definitely helping the Blazers succeed, but again, his availability is beyond their control.

The Trail Blazers are doing everything in their power to stay as healthy as possible going into these last couple of weeks. With the return of Deni Avdija, the Trail Blazers are turning a corner and finding their rhythm.

With just 11 games left to go in the regular season, the Trail Blazers need to try and win as many as possible in order to get the best position possible in the tournament. If they can finish ahead of the Warriors and Clippers in the standings, they will have two chances to win one game, which is huge in the grand scheme of things.

However, the only way they are going to achieve that goal is if they focus on what they are doing and improving their own trouble spots.