NBA icon Charles Barkley has made another bold prediction for the playoffs. According to him, the Portland Trail Blazers have a chance to upset the Los Angeles Lakers if they secure the eighth seed.
Barkley uttered the strong statement in NBA on TNT. He seems to have supreme confidence in the Terry Stotts-coached Blazers squad. So much so that he believes they will oust the Lakers — a team that has been heavily favored to win the 2019-20 title.
"If the Portland Trail Blazers get in the playoffs, they will beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round."
– Charles Barkley coming in hot 🔥🌶
(via @NBAonTNT)pic.twitter.com/RbAyvcl4qB
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) July 17, 2020
The Blazers are actually in the ninth spot with a 29-37 record. They are three and a half games behind the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies crew. As announced by the league, the 22 returning teams will play eight more regular-season games. This is to determine the teams' final standings.
Tthe Blazers would need to win the majority of their remaining regular season games — and hope that the Grizzlies would lose often — to have a shot at making the playoffs for the seventh consecutive year.
This is not the first time that Barkley shared his optimism about the Blazers. In ESPN's Get Up last month, the former league MVP tagged the Blazers as one of the sleeper teams.
“The one team in the Western Conference, if they get Nurkic back and Zach Collins, nobody’s going to want to see the Portland Trail Blazers. They got, arguably — other than Klay and Steph — the best backcourt in the NBA. Whiteside’s been playing pretty good all year. But if they get Nurkic and Zach Collins back, nobody’s going to want to see the Portland Trail Blazers.”
It is true that Barkley utters some eyebrow-raising thoughts. But it is also true that he's a legend of the sport who knows his basketball well.
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