Every time people give up on the Portland Trail Blazers, it feels like they find a way to prove their doubters wrong. The Trail Blazers are currently 5th place in the Western Conference and have won three straight games over the Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio Spurs, and Oklahoma City Thunder. What makes their success even more impressive is the fact that they've been doing this without a healthy Damian Lillard, who has played in just two of their last nine games due to a calf strain. During this time, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic have done a really nice job of carrying the load and keeping the ship afloat.
McCollum continues to show why he's one of the best shooting guards in the NBA, averaging 21.3 points per game on 44.2% shooting from the field, 41.9% shooting from 3-point range, and 86.7% shooting from the foul line. Nurkic likewise continues to show why he's one of the top big men in the NBA, averaging 14.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game.
With a healthy Damian Lillard, the Trail Blazers have a very nice trio that gives them a very balanced scoring attack. Lillard provides them with an elite slashing guard that can facilitate and set the table for others, McCollum provides them with a lights out shooter, and Nurkic gives them a sound presence down on the block. Such a combination is very tricky to stop in today's NBA.
The only knock on this team is that they don't have a ton of depth. Once you get outside of those three guys, there's not much else to get really excited about. If they want to get to the next level and make a serious push for the Western Conference Finals, they need to add at least one more piece and give themselves a little bit better depth across the board. As good as they are, there is a limit to what they can presently accomplish.
That said, this team has been very impressive this season. They're a competitive presence in the Western Conference and have the pieces to perhaps win a playoff series. If they can make a surprise move before the trade deadline, perhaps they can exceed their current limits.
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