The Trail Blazers are heading into the most pivotal stretch of this season. Four of the six games remaining are against western conference teams with winning records. Portland hasn’t performed well against the caliber of team in 2021. But after finishing a six-game road trip with just one loss, many fans and pundits are beginning to feel a tide shift with this team as the playoffs approach.
“I think we’re past the point of wondering if this team is going to show up,” FAN Blazers Inside Jason Quick explained during an interview with Primetime, Thursday. “They didn’t just beat those teams on the road trip, they hammered them… But to your point, they’ve got a huge schedule ahead.”
Quick attributes the about-face nature of this team to Damian Lillard’s leadership. “This team feeds so much off his aura, his energy,” he said. “When Dame is right, this team gets right and I think we’re seeing a lot of that right now.” Dame looked largely lethargic during many April games, scoring 30 or more points just twice in the month.
But that’s all changed after putting up 33 and 32 in the final two contests of the six-game road trip.
Fans worried that after a five-game losing streak earlier in April, the Trail Blazers would mentally check out near the season’s end, considering rumors of Terry Stotts demise as coach and the possibility of a play-in game. Quick says that attitude is nowhere to be found.
“I think we’re past the point of wondering if this team is going to show up,” he explained. “They didn’t just beat those teams on the road trip, they hammered them… But to your point, they’ve got a huge schedule ahead.”
CHECK OUT JASON’S FULL INTERVIEW W/ PRIMETIME IN THE PLAYER ABOVE
