TUALATIN, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers have one more regular season game, but it’s already playoff time.
The Blazers will take the floor at the Moda Center Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets, a game that carries the added incentive of locking up the fifth seed and a more desirable playoff match-up against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The stakes would not be as high had the Blazers taken care of business last Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but having that experience in their minds as a vivid memory could help them prevent a let down.
“I feel like your biggest thing is getting the win,” Allen Crabbe said about the approach to Wednesday against Denver. “Regardless of who we are playing, just because it’s the last game of the season going into the playoffs, we just can’t let happen what happened against Minnesota. Just getting a win will be good confidence boost going into the playoffs.”
Head coach Terry Stotts discussed certain things about the team’s performance recently but was much more critical of Saturday’s game after Tuesday’s practice.
Stotts told the Blazers that they need to have a “playoff mindset” and wants them to focus on the breakdowns they suffered against Minnesota.
“We need to have a good game,” Stotts said. “With the playoffs around the corner it’s about having a playoff mindset. Every possession, communication defensively, offensively execute what we need to execute. When you look at the breakdowns we had against Minnesota it was very disappointing.”
The Blazers look to avenge that disappointment but with the playoffs coming around, they are already starting to focus on what they need to do.
Most of their focus, at least with the players, has gone towards preparation for Wednesday against Denver.
But they want the Blazers to approach their end of the bargain like they’re already playing Game 1.
“I think it’s just another game we have to focus and win and dig in and not have anything that will cause us to be in a losing position,” Crabbe, the L.A. native said. “Coach even talked about it, ‘it’s playoff basketball time.’ All the things that we had slippage in the Minnesota game, it’s simply not acceptable for this game.”
Playoff Scenarios
As of this writing, the Blazers can still finish anywhere from fifth to seventh.
• A win Wednesday secures fifth.
• Should the Memphis Grizzlies lose Tuesday to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Blazers can finish no worse than sixth.
• The Mavericks, who trail the Blazers by one game and hold the tiebreaker, plays at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Dallas against a Spurs team that could likely be sitting players, after playing their final home game of the season Tuesday.
