I once knew a couple who visited Hawaii several times a year. They kept going back and going back until finally they decided to purchase property there. Might as well, right?
If you substitute “Portland Trail Blazers” for “a couple” and “20th place” for “Hawaii”, you have the perfect description of the Blazers in the NBA Power Rankings for 2025-26. Portland has finished in the 20th spot so often that they might as well buy some land and build a home. And sure enough, John Schuhmann of NBA.com puts
them there again this week, same as they were last week and seemingly every week prior.
Among his takeaways, Schuhmann cites these facts:
The Blazers had won seven of their last eight games before Sunday, with four of those seven wins coming against the Celtics, Spurs and Rockets (twice). They’re tied with the Hawks for the most games played (26) against the 16 teams that currently have winning records, now a respectable 11-15 against that group.
Over their five-game winning streak, the Blazers outscored their opponents by 99 points from 3-point range. There was some luck involved, as the Rockets shot just 2-for-29 from the corners over their two games in Portland last week. The Blazers have the league’s seventh-lowest opponent 3-point rate (39%) overall, but 30% of their opponents’ 3-point attempts, the league’s highest opponent rate, have come from the corners.
Portland finished just behind the Memphis Grizzlies and just ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks in this week’s rankings. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Detroit Pistons, and Minnesota Timberwolves took the top three positions.
