Where Will The Blazers Finish In The West And What Are Their Chances In The Playoffs?

A week ago, prior to Portland losing a heart breaker in New Orleans, the prevailing thought around the league was that Portland would finish 6th in the Western Conference and face the Dallas Mavericks.  After Sunday's win over the Mavericks at home, it seemed like a lock.

Right now though, it's anything but a lock.  In fact, right now the Blazers are currently the 7th seed in the West and just dropped a gimmie game at home against the uninspired Warriors.  But I still think the Blazers finish 6th in the conference, based on their remaining games and the remaining games of Memphis and New Orleans.  I think Portland beats Utah, Memphis and Golden State and then loses to the Lakers.  I think the Hornets beat the Suns and Utah, and then lose on the road to Memphis and Dallas.  And then I think the Grizzlies beat Sacramento, the Hornets and the Clippers, and lose when they visit Portland.

So that would have Portland getting the 6th seed, Memphis getting the 7th seed and New Orleans getting the 8th seed. 

Yesterday morning on his radio show, Colin Cowherd had Ric Bucher on to talk about all things NBA.  Cowherd asked Bucher about a potential Dallas-Portland first round matchup and how he thought it would go.  Bucher said that he would pick Portland to win the series.  They didn't spend a lot of time on it, but he basically said that the Blazers are the Dallas' worst nightmare defensively and that's why Portland would have the advantage.

Blazersedge had a note yesterday pointing out that ESPN's Tom Haberstroh thinks that because Portland can throw more than a few above-average defenders at Nowitzki and Jason Terry, the Dallas Mavericks may be doomed in the first round.

"...the Blazers have beaten the Mavericks twice since they acquired Gerald Wallace, and that's not a coincidence.

The Blazers are deep and versatile, allowing them to match up well with any of the Mavericks' lineups. More specifically, Portland wields elite defenders at the positions where the Mavericks like to attack. Between Wallace, Nic Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby, the Blazers can throw four above-average defenders at Dirk Nowitzki, each offering a different look depending on the matchups. Furthermore, the Blazers boast another lockdown defender in Wesley Matthews, who can keep super sub Jason Terry in check alongside Nowitzki in crunch time. If it's only Dallas' two best scorers who produce, the Blazers could reach the Western Conference semifinals for the first time in more than a decade."

According to Haberstroh, the Blazers are Dallas's "kryptonite".