Trail Blazers vs. Lakers: Schedule, TV Info, Prediction for NBA Playoff Series

The Portland Trail Blazers earned the NBA's final playoff berth with a 126-122 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in their play-in tournament game Saturday.

The Blazers will now face the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA's Western Conference playoffs, with Game 1 taking place Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.

Below you can find the entire series schedule between the No. 8 Blazers and No. 1 Lakers as well as a pick for the lead candidate for the postseason's most entertaining first-round matchup.

TV Info and Schedule

Game 1: Tuesday, August 18: 9 p.m. (TNT)

Game 2: Thursday, August 20: 9 p.m. (ESPN)

Game 3: Saturday, August 22: 8:30 p.m. (ABC)

Game 4: Monday, August 24: 9 p.m. (TNT)

Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, August 26: Time and TV TBD

Game 6 (if necessary): Friday, August 28: Time and TV TBD

Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, August 30: Time and TV TBD

All times ET. Series is best-of-seven.

Preview and Prediction

In reality, this is only a No. 1 vs. No. 8 matchup on paper. If the Blazers had their current iteration of their team all season, then a top-four seed would not be out of the realm of possibility.

Down low, Jusuf Nurkic gives this team an added dimension it didn't have prior to the restart. The double-double machine, whose first game this season occurred July 31, had 21 points and 21 boards in the play-in game and has been lights-out in Florida following a 16-month absence after suffering a broken leg in March 2019.

In addition, Carmelo Anthony was a free agent for the first month of the season before the Blazers added him for frontcourt depth. He has been excellent for the Blazers with 15.4 points per game.

Gary Trent Jr. has also emerged as a hot-shooting threat off the bench and from beyond the arc, making 50.7 percent of his three-pointers during the restart.

And then there's Zach Collins, who has played just 11 games this season because of a shoulder dislocation. The big man returned in July and has provided scoring and rebounding assistance as the team's starting power forward (6.3 points, 7.1 rebounds).

They're all led by Damian Lillard and his backcourt mate CJ McCollum, who can put the Blazers on their backs and take a game or two with hot outside shooting.

Lillard in particular has been phenomenal in Florida, averaging 37.6 points per game in the team's eight seeding contests. McCollum has produced a few clutch, game-winning performances, perhaps none better than his 33-point night on 14-of-21 shooting versus the Grizz on July 31 in a 140-135 overtime win.

Combined, that crew has posted the best offensive rating among the 22 teams participating in the restart, per NBA.com.

That effort should be good enough to take a few games off the Lakers, but there are a few issues preventing them from pulling off a series upset.

First, the Blazers have the third-worst defensive rating in the bubble, per NBA.com.

That hasn't been an issue against teams they can simply outscore, but the Lakers have two matchup nightmares in Anthony Davis and LeBron James, who are a herculean task for any team to defend. It's unclear how Portland will be able to match up with either of them.

The Lakers didn't fluke their way to a 52-19 record this year: James led the league in assists in his 17th NBA campaign, and Davis led the team with 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.

The pieces around Davis and James fit nearly perfectly: Danny Green and Avery Bradley served as three-and-D specialists, the combination of JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard did dirty work down low, Kyle Kuzma provided some extra scoring off the bench and fan favorite Alex Caruso came through in the clutch on multiple occasions.

They also cruised to the Western Conference's No. 1 seed despite how tough the West proved to be this year.

Ultimately, the biggest factor may be stamina: The Lakers are simply far more well-rested heading into this one.

The Blazers have basically participated in a nine-game postseason gauntlet before the actual playoffs, with every matchup carrying a postseason-like intensity.

The Lakers have long had the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference locked up and essentially took it easy during the back half of their seeding-game stretch.

In sum, this series won't be easy for the Lakers given Portland's dominant offense, but look for them to outlast the Blazers in a closely contested series.

Pick: Los Angeles 4, Portland 2