Modest Fall for the Blazers in The Athletic’s Power Rankings

Three uncompetitive losses in a row caused a modest drop in The Athletic’s power rankings this week (subscription required). After winning six out of seven at home at the end of January into February, the Blazers followed that up with three losses in a row on the road to quality competition. First up was the Minnesota Timberwolves, followed by two losses to the Denver Nuggets. The result was a decline of three places from 22 to 25.

In this week’s edition of The Athletics’s power rankings, Law Murray concentrated on each team’s contributions to the main All-Star events over the weekend for his writeup. All NBA teams had someone participating except for Sacramento (oh dear). Portland’s Toumani Camara, two-way Bryce McGowens, and injured Scoot Henderson all earned a mentioned.

Nuggets rookie Julian Strawther replaced Scoot Henderson in Rising Stars because of Henderson spraining his right ankle in Denver last week. Strawther then teamed up with Portland’s second-year forward Toumani Camara and watched Trail Blazers two-way contract Bryce McGowens called game in an upset win for Team G League on Friday night.

While All-Star weekend surely didn’t impact Portland’s power ranking, the losses of the last week and the point differentials certainly did. The Blazers’ margins of defeat in their last three games were 16, 29 and 11 points respectively, without a truly competitive game over that stretch.

The Blazers will jump back into the fray on Thursday at home against the old enemy with a new star, the Los Angeles Lakers with a certain Luka Doncic.