Portland Trail Blazers: Most Important Games Left on the Schedule

Seven games.

That is all that remains in what has been a nightmarish, topsy-turvy season for the Portland Trail Blazers.

The seven games will be played out over two weeks. Five of them are on the road.

The Blazers must win three of these remaining games. Not to have a chance at the playoffs. Although they haven’t yet been mathematically eliminated, realistically that ship has not only sailed, it’s already docked on the other side of the ocean.

No, winning these three games won’t save Portland’s season. Instead, it will allow the fans and players to push the horrors of the 2011-12 season past the bad jokes, regrettable decisions and exes’ phone numbers to its rightful place in the deepest depths of the memory.

Wins in these three games will give Blazer Nation a sliver of hope to cling to heading into the offseason rather than dwelling on the untimely retirements and achy knees, midseason firings and trades and underachieving and finger-pointing.

The most important game—the only “must-win”—left on the schedule is April 15 when Portland visits Sacramento.

The Trail Blazers have to beat the Kings—a team with even less to play for than Portland.

Sacramento has already been eliminated from the playoffs. The Kings are a young team with nothing to play for but pride.

Losing to a team like that would have little effect on veterans like Kurt Thomas and Joel Przybilla, but it could seriously hamper the psyche of the younger Trail Blazers.

If Portland takes the lead early in this game, it’s easy to see Sacramento folding as individuals start playing for their own stats rather than the good of the team.

This is the type of game that can benefit the young Trail Blazers and boost their confidence heading into the offseason. Heavy minutes and a win for the youngsters on Portland’s roster could show these players they can have a bright NBA future. That, in turn, will spark a hunger for these players to work even harder over the summer and report to camp next year that much better.

The following week, Portland plays on the road at San Antonio in game No. 65 of the season.

The Spurs will either be fighting for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference or resting their starters because they’re locked into the second seed.

If San Antonio is fighting for the top seed, what better way for Portland to close the season than by spoiling Tim Duncan and Co.'s playoff aspirations? This game would represent the closest thing to the playoffs these Blazers will see this year and the atmosphere in San Antonio will ramp up the excitement for the game.

If San Antonio cannot get the No. 1 seed, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will rest his starters.

That will leave Portland facing a rotation including former Blazer Patty Mills, DeJuan Blair, Boris Diaw and the Red Rocket Matt Bonner.

Without Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, the Spurs are a very beatable team.

The Trail Blazers close the season on April 26 on the road against the Utah Jazz.

This game comes as an old-fashioned grudge match.

These two teams have a history dating back two decades to the Stockton-Malone vs. Drexler-Porter-Williams days. Those games were physical. The teams did not like each other.

The rivalry may have lost some of its luster, but Portland and Utah are still divisional rivals. And Portland may have a chance to keep Utah out of the playoffs.

After Utah’s win Wednesday over Houston, the Jazz is 1.5 game out of the eighth playoff seed while the Blazers are 4.5 games out.

If Portland’s playoffs chances are shot by the time April 26 rolls around, keeping Utah out of the playoffs would be the ultimate prize in the final game of the season.

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