Here’s where the Trail Blazers stand in the latest NBA Cup standings with one game remaining in group play.
The Portland Trail Blazers captured their eighth win of the season on Friday night when they defeated their Western Conference foe, the Sacramento Kings.
The Blazers won by a final score of 115-106 against the Kings on Friday night in front of a crowd of 17,565 at Moda Center.The Trail Blazers are still very much alive in NBA Cup play; however, they have some hurdles to climb. Portland entered the game with a -14 point differential; their current point differential is -5, putting them behind all the other 2-1 teams — Dallas, Phoenix, and Oklahoma City — in the race for the “wildcard” spot with one game remaining in group play.
“I’m used to all those things because I came from Europe and I’m used to all the point differential,”Deni Avdija. “But like the guys, mostly the guys played in the NBA in college, I feel like they're just trying to win the game, which is important. But I knew it was a Cup game, so I knew we got to keep going and I told it to the guys at the huddle.”
Portland still needs to win on Tuesday and have those other teams lose on the final day of group play to secure the "wildcard" spot. If not, they'll need to beat the Clippers on Tuesday and beat them by a lot in order to advance to the quarterfinal round.“This in-season tournament, I think it's big for all players,” said Banton. “Not just our team, but I think everyone. It brings a whole different aspect to the game with the different court and the energy that it brings.
The Trail Blazers treated Friday's game like a playoff game, and they got production from a multitude of key players. Blazers star center Deandre Ayton was huge in his second game back from a finger injury, recording 26 points on 11-for-19 shooting from the field.
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