5 Video games to Circle This Portland Trail Blazers Season

The Portland Trail Blazers’ schedule dropped on Thursday, probably the final huge step in one of the vital action-packed Blazers offseasons in latest reminiscence.

As writers and followers, all we are able to actually do now’s stay up for the long run and watch for the preseason cycle to kick off in earnest in late September. So, I figured I’d lean into the previous possibility and spotlight 5 of probably the most intriguing video games from the newly unveiled regular-season slate.

The standards used to select these 5 matchups was free, contemplating elements like opposing play types, attainable playoff implications, nationwide TV broadcasts, participant storylines, how shut a matchup seems on paper, and many others. Obligatory point out that it’s August and the circumstances round these video games might and sure will change over an 82-game season.

Primarily, I picked video games that stood out on the calendar — for no matter cause — and seemed like they could possibly be entertaining nights of basketball. That final cause is why I didn’t choose video games in opposition to the league’s heavyweight opponents with out different compelling elements including to the intrigue; I needed to keep away from video games that had a better likelihood of ending in lopsided scores. That’s additionally why this record might current stable choices should you’re seeking to purchase some Blazers tickets this season, however struggling to select the video games you wish to see.

Now let’s check out the 5 video games to circle on the calendar this season!

Wednesday, Oct. 22 vs. T-Wolves, 7 p.m. @ Home

It looks like low-hanging fruit to pick out the season opener, however I’m so interested in what this evening will carry two months from now, particularly contemplating how poorly the Blazers opened final season. (If you blacked it out out of your reminiscence, right here’s a hyperlink.) This matchup in opposition to the Minnesota Timberwolves is a troublesome opening draw in opposition to a Western Conference contender. The Blazers will likely be at dwelling. Fans will enter the constructing with renewed optimism and an endorphin rush fueled by a busy offseason. In that setting, how will the Blazers set the tone for the season? Will they clock in for a aggressive evening, or will they lay a dud in opposition to Anthony Edwards and firm?

The final time Minnesota visited Portland, the Blazers stole their lunch cash in stunning back-to-back wins final November. Maybe the Timberwolves enter this recreation with an extended reminiscence and a chip on their shoulder. And perhaps the Blazers additionally enter with some swagger, figuring out they’ve dealt with this workforce earlier than. It might make for some high quality TV on evening one.

Friday, Oct. 31 vs. Nuggets, 7 p.m. @ Home

In phrases of window dressing, this early-season matchup in opposition to the Denver Nuggets has so much. The recreation takes place on the Moda Center, it’s a Friday evening, it’s Halloween, and it’s Portland’s first group-stage recreation of the sacred NBA Cup! Feelings can fluctuate on the importance of the in-season match however I occur to be one of many occasion’s greatest proponents — and I’m solely half-joking once I say that. It’s enjoyable to provide non-contending groups just like the Blazers an opportunity to play for stakes, and I loved the Blazers’ rose-and-thorn embellished court docket on Cup days final season.

The Nuggets must be one of many West’s prime groups this season. The starting a part of the Blazers’ schedule is loaded with opponents of the same high quality. Whether the Blazers come into this recreation red-hot and rolling or badly needing a win, the house ambiance of this distinctive recreation might assist push them throughout the end line.

Plus, this recreation will function the primary matchup between Blazers rookie Yang Hansen and his basketball idol Nikola Jokic. Yang humbly stated he’d ask for an image and an autograph from Jokic after they first meet. Jokic gave an aesthetic response, saying he’d oblige provided that Yang didn’t outplay him on the court docket. I look ahead to seeing how their first assembly performs out.

Tuesday, Dec. 23 vs. Magic, 7 p.m. @ Home

Defense ought to rule the day when the Blazers host the Orlando Magic on the Moda Center two days earlier than Christmas. Orlando fielded the No. 2 protection within the league final season, whereas the Blazers sparked their turnaround by fielding the No. 3 protection for the ultimate 41 video games. On the opposite finish, the image is much less sparkly. Orlando ranked third-worst in scoring final season and Portland ninth-worst. They each ranked within the bottom-five in 3-point proportion. This matchup is what occurs when rock meets rock in rock-paper-scissors: It’s gritty, rugged and bodily.

In this ambiance final season, Portland had Orlando’s quantity. The Blazers blew out the Magic 101-79 on the highway on Jan. 23. Then every week later, they did it once more at dwelling in a 119-90 win that acquired actual chippy. Toumani Camara additionally put Paolo Banchero within the field, proving to be a worthy match for the 6-foot-10 star. The Blazers caught the Magic within the midst of a hunch final season and took benefit. Orlando will enter this season with increased aspirations following the acquisition of Desmond Bane. We’ll see if the Blazers can proceed to beat them at their very own recreation.

Monday, Dec. 29 vs. Mavs, 8 p.m. @ Home

Out of Portland’s eight “nationally televised” video games this season, together with streaming choices, this Monday dwelling recreation in opposition to the Dallas Mavericks on NBC might be the one I’m anticipating probably the most. It hits the candy spot of coming in opposition to what must be a high quality opponent, however not an overpowered one, and the sport is definitely on broadcast TV, not some streaming service.

After having only one nationwide TV recreation in every of the previous two seasons, the uptick to eight is a welcomed change this 12 months. Players appear to wish to present out extra on the nationwide stage, and I take pleasure in when the nationwide highlight provides a while to the Portland skyline and Blazers followers. I additionally take pleasure in listening to nationwide broadcasters’ impressions of the workforce, particularly one as younger and little-seen as this Blazers squad.

Depending on how well being shakes out, Dallas might very effectively be in Portland’s tier this season, jockeying for place within the play-in or the back-half of the Western Conference playoff image. This matchup must be litmus take a look at for the Blazers (bonus factors for it marking Cooper Flagg’s first go to to Rip City).

Fri.-Sat., Feb. 6-7 vs. Grizzlies, 7 p.m. @ Home

Keeping that final thought of postseason implications in thoughts, the Memphis Grizzlies must be one other workforce the Blazers have of their crosshairs this season. If the Blazers are critical about leaping into the playoffs this season, they’ll should supplant some groups in entrance of them. Among the alternatives, the Grizzlies are a first-rate candidate for Portland to leapfrog (as many Blazer’s Edge readers highlighted on this neighborhood dialogue on the subject).

Although the Grizzlies nonetheless have high-end expertise in Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., they’ll should fill the void left by Desmond Bane. They’ve additionally lacked stability since they emerged because the NBA’s up-and-coming younger workforce in 2021-22, which now looks like ages in the past.

This home-and-home back-to-back for Portland in early February presents a chance for the Blazers to both shut in on the Grizzlies or create area from them within the Western Conference standings. (Even although it’s two video games, we’re making an exception to incorporate it as one entity on this prestigious record.) Depending on how shut play-in/playoff positioning is in April, how this back-to-back shakes out might maintain some significance at season’s finish.

This back-to-back additionally will get bonus factors for that includes the old-school heart matchup of Donovan Clingan versus Zach Edey, who’ve converging histories. The 7-footers competed within the 2024 NCAA title recreation and each went within the lottery to their respective groups that spring. Clingan acquired the “better” of these two outings, successful the title with UConn and going at No. 7 within the draft, two spots forward of Edey. However, Edey made the All-Rookie First Team final 12 months, whereas Clingan made All-Rookie Second Team.

– Schedule lobbying? As Blazer’s Edge Managing Editor Dave Deckard identified in his schedule breakdown, the Blazers don’t have a highway journey longer than 5 video games this season. They have three journeys of that length — happening from Nov. 8-16, Feb. 26-March 6, and March 15-22. It’s uncommon for the Blazers to not have a seven-game highway journey someplace within the combine. After seeing that extra optimistic facet of the schedule, I believed again to a scenario from March. The Blazers got here again from a seven-game highway journey to play the Detroit Pistons at dwelling on March 9, however then they instantly needed to fly to Golden State for yet another highway recreation on March 10. Billups wasn’t comfortable in regards to the herky-jerky nature of the stretch, and he criticized the scheduling in his postgame presser following the Detroit recreation, a 112-111 loss.

“This is like a road game,” Billups stated. “You come off a seven-game trip, two weeks, and you turn around and gotta play tomorrow on the road. We should’ve just played the Pistons at [Oakland Arena] and then played the Warriors at [the Chase Center in San Francisco]. … It’s just a terrible scheduling thing, but it is what it is.”

I couldn’t assist however surprise if the extra favorable highway slate this season was a acutely aware effort by the NBA to acknowledge Billups’ critique and throw the Blazers a bone. Each of Portland’s three five-game highway journeys this season are adopted by at the least two dwelling video games.

– No Rivals? As I scanned the Blazers’ regular-season schedule on the lookout for intriguing matchups, I noticed this Portland workforce doesn’t have any true rivals but. Yes, in fact, there’s all the time the Los Angeles Lakers, however that’s carried on extra by followers proper now than each groups’ present rosters. I’m speaking about opponents who the Blazers have constructed up unhealthy blood with — matchups the place you possibly can inform the gamers don’t like one another and the video games are dogfights. Those sorts of rivalries take time and oftentimes a shared postseason historical past to construct, so it is sensible that this youthful iteration of the Blazers hasn’t established any prime-time foes but. Maybe we’ll begin to see a few of these rivalries take form this season.