Blazers News: Portland a Mixed Bag in Latest League Power Rankings

Ricardo Klein | 3 Hours Ago

Nov 4, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups looks on against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Portland Trail Blazers are not off to such a horrendous start, at least not to the start many pundits and experts expected them to be at through eight games. The Blazers sit with a 3-5 record, only two games below .500, and have looked competitive thus far through the season. 

The Trail Blazers have surprised many people thus far; how long they can keep it up is the question, but they have impressed those in the power rankings. Although they are still among the bottom half of many lists, they are higher than what they were the previous week, at least according to the New York Times. 

The New York Times raised them from 27 to 22. 

"Two of Portland’s wins have come against the Pelicans, but credit is due to the Blazers for competing early. Then again, this has always been Portland coming out of training camp under Chauncey Billups. The Blazers started 3-2 in 2021, 4-0 in 2022 and 3-3 in 2023. There is enough talent on Portland’s roster that it can beat a team that plays poorly, and most of Billups’ rotation is made up of players who were on last year’s team. The only exceptions are Avdija and top-10 draft pick Clingan." 

However, the other site's power rankings, including ESPN, aren't high on the Blazers. Thet dropped them to 29 from 27.

"The frisky Blazers have shown their improved depth, shooting and defense can catch unsuspecting veteran teams for an upset, as they defeated the Clippers Wednesday at Intuit Dome. Yet Portland still boasts the West's second-worst point differential because of lopsided losses to the Warriors and Thunder. That reflects the Blazers' attempt to thread the needle between showing progress this season -- particularly second-year guard Scoot Henderson, who has cut his turnovers and improved his scoring efficiency -- while remaining in position for an anticipated draft lottery. -- Pelton"

NBA.com also moved Portland down to 28 from 26. 

"Those second-half leads disappeared pretty quickly, with the Blazers getting outscored by 47 points (82-35) over the two third quarters against Oklahoma City and Phoenix. Having been outscored by double-digits in two third quarters before that, they’re an amazing minus-42.2 per 100 possessions in the third period for the season. (They’d still be just 3-4 if you erased all their third quarters.)

If they are more competitive this year, it’s because of improved defense. Blazers’ opponents have taken just 42% of their shots in the paint, with that being the league’s lowest rate and down from 50% (seventh highest) last season. They’ve done that while also being one of only nine teams with a lower opponent free throw rate than they had last season.

The offense has been a struggle. The Blazers are the only team with four players — Deni Avdija, Jerami Grant, Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons — with an effective field goal percentage below 47% on at least 50 shots."

The Trail Blazers have three games this week before next week's power rankings are released. 

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