The Portland Trail Blazers start a pivotal three-game homestand on Sunday night when they face the woeful Indiana Pacers.
The Trail Blazers sit in the final Western Conference play-in spot with 18 games remaining but would like to make a run at moving up in the standings.
A strong finish would give Portland a chance to catch the ninth-place Los Angeles Clippers and perhaps the eighth-place Golden State Warriors.
But with Portland standing four games below .500, the current sequence that sees the Charlotte Hornets arrive Tuesday followed by the Utah Jazz on Friday can’t involve any slip-ups.
After the homestand, the Trail Blazers embark on a five-game road trip.
Portland just got back from a five-game excursion, finishing 2-3 after Friday night’s 106-99 loss to the Houston Rockets.
“Definitely a long road trip,” Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant said. “Little rough one for us. We get back home, we’ve got a week. We’ll get back to it and try to put some wins together.”
All-Star forward Deni Avdija missed the entire trip and has sat out six straight games due to persistent lower-back issues. He’s listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.
Grant scored 21 points and Jrue Holiday added 20 points and 10 assists against the Rockets.
Portland led 82-77 entering the final quarter before being outscored 29-17 in the final period.
“The guys competed and played hard,” Trail Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter said. “We had a chance at the end. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to make shots.”
Portland made just 7 of 21 shots in the fourth quarter while Houston made a scorching 10 of 15 attempts.
Grant could feel the game slipping away.
“I think it was solid for most of the game,” Grant said of his team’s play. “We kind of let off the gas toward the end. They started making some tough ones.”
Indiana has dropped eight straight games, including a 128-117 road loss against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
The Pacers trailed by 24 points in the fourth quarter before narrowing the gap in the final minutes.
Still, Indiana has dropped its past five games by an average of 19.6 points. Sunday’s contest is the third of a four-game road trip.
“This is a tough trip,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’re a long way from home, these are all good teams. Portland is another good team so we’re going to have to be ready.”
Indiana has allowed 125 or more points in each of its past seven games, which is causing heavy consternation for Carlisle.
“We just have to be able to sustain attention to detail at both ends,” Carlisle said. “… It’s hard to win when you’re playing from behind all game.”
Of course, the Pacers have been operating at a deficit all season after star point guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last June.
Indiana also has yet to see big man Ivica Zubac (ankle) on the court after acquiring him from the Clippers in the deadline deal that sent Bennedict Mathurin to Los Angeles.
Pascal Siakam scored 26 points against the Lakers and he’s averaging 27.5 points on 52.9% shooting in two games since being sidelined for three due to a sprained left wrist.
Siakam is averaging 24.0 points, just shy of his career-best 24.2 that he put up for the Toronto Raptors in 2022-23.
The Trail Blazers have won three of the past four meetings.
