NBA Today: 3 Reasons why the Portland Trail Blazers have underperformed this season
Even though the Portland Trail Blazers were swept by the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals last year, their magnificent run leading up to that point received serious acclaim from basketball fans across the globe. However, they haven't been able to carry the momentum over to the current season and a fairly disappointing campaign finds them at the 11th spot in the Western Conference standings so far.
Their uncharacteristic 10-16 (0.385) win-loss record to start this year has been a culmination of various anomalies. Let's take a look at some of the glitches that are to be blamed for their underwhelming performance across the 26 games played so far.
#1 The long list of injuries have shaken the core of this team
Rodney Hood was the latest addition to the lengthy lineup of Portland players who have or are slated to miss considerable time due to some kind of injury. As was Hood's case, he ended up tearing his Achilles against the Los Angeles Lakers and will sit out for the rest of the season.
Tracing back from this mishap, one can recall Jusuf Nurkic’s fractured leg from March, which is expected to keep him sidelined till the All-Star break. The Bosnian was Portland's leading rebounder and shot-blocker when he went down. Moreover, a promising young talent in Zach Collins will miss at least four more months, after he suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder and had to undergo surgery to fix it. As of this moment, the Blazers are also missing Nassir Little who is a day-to-day decision due to his back issues.
It's safe to say that this squad is severely understaffed to battle the turbulent winds of competition that Western Conference brings. They are missing key contributors and are desperate for players to step up in this phase of utter distress.