NBA Western Power Rankings Week 3: Warriors storm ahead

Nov 9, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) talks with referee Matt Boland (18) after a call in the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

13th: Portland Trail Blazers (15 points)

By Jose Salviati

Record: 4-8

Record last week: 0-5

If they haven’t already, the Portland police department needs to put out an APB for the Trail Blazers. This week, they just flat out disappeared. After an encouraging 4-2 start to the season which included wins against the Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies, two teams thought to be powerhouses in the Western Conference, they have laid a goose egg.

To be fair, the Blazers were on the road for three of their four games this week and their one home game was against the Spurs. That’s a tough schedule for any NBA team and proved to be an impossible task for the TrailBlazers.

After losing LaMarcus Aldridge the Blazers became a guard oriented team by default. Lucky for them, they have two good ones in Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Lillard is averaging 25.3 points a game while McCollum is contributing 20.4 points. The problem for the Blazers is that after those two there is a drop off — a big one. Former Clipper Al-Farouq Amuni is next at 12.8 points from the small forward position and no one else is averaging double figures. While not horrible defensively they just don’t score enough points to win games. If only they still had a high scoring power forward.

Next: Sacramento Kings