After winning a hard-fought Game 7 of the Blazers vs. Nuggets playoff series on the road, Portland is one step away from the NBA finals. However, the team standing in their way is Golden State Warriors, which lost only a single playoff series over the previous four seasons, so the job won’t be easy. The Western Conference Finals will certainly represent a test of Blazers’ limitations, as they are matched against a team whose style they largely try to emulate on the court.
Both Portland and Golden State are built around shooting, and both teams take pride in playing tough team defense despite the fact that their best players aren’t superb individual defenders. In many respects, Trail Blazers vs. Warriors playoffs matchup will be determined by performance of their main stars. Portland has made it out of the first two rounds mostly because of stellar play of its guards, as Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum are shattering expectations with one amazing game after another. It remains to be seen whether they can continue producing magic when they are facing two former MVP’s in Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, especially with the stakes higher than ever.
For Portland Trail Blazers, NBA Finals is a stage they haven’t reached since the early 1990’s, while the Warriors won three titles in the last four years. The experience is clearly on the side of the defending champions, who are aided by the fact they hold home court advantage and would host the deciding game if the series goes the distance. For Portland to stand a chance to win the series against this formidable opponent, it would have to steal a game on the road, a feat that might be somewhat easier because Durant’s injury sustained against Houston will probably keep him out of the first two games of this series. You can check the latest sports betting odds for Portland Trail Blazers in this series on SugarHouse Casino website and by using your SugarHouse promo code they will give you a good enough deal for a great start. Right now, Blazers are +600 to win the series against Warriors.
In all likelihood for Portland, Conference Finals is the most realistic achievement this year. Advancing any further will be difficult, and even if they did, they would still be regarded as underdogs in any potential NBA Finals matchup against either Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors. Regardless, this Portland playoffs showing should be viewed as success, as they already eliminated two tough Western Conference teams and proved beyond any doubt they belong in the conversation about the elite teams in the NBA.
