Mean Streak

Before the Blazers print playoff tickets, here are four worries.

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WW to Jarrett Jack: Learn to run the fast break or we’ll put you on our list.
IMAGE: CAMERONBROWNE.COM

BY CASEY JARMAN | cjarman at wweek dot com

[January 9th, 2008]

Who’da thunk it? Heading into their last home game for more than two weeks, the Portland Trail Blazers have won 16 of their last 17 games.

That includes December’s 13-game winning streak—remarkable for a young team with such low pre-season expectations—that had even the least sports-savvy Portlanders asking, “How ’bout them Blazers?”

As the Blazers head into their home game Wednesday night, Jan. 9, against Golden State, dismissive national pundits and eager Portland bloggers alike wonder if the Blazers can keep up the winning. They’re asking because the team will be heading on its longest road trip this season (Jan. 13 to 23, including seven stops with tough games in Toronto, Boston and Orlando).

Since we’re asking the same thing, WW looked for the team’s four biggest roadblocks—beyond the obvious season-ending injury (stay healthy, Brandon)—to another winning month or even another epic winning streak.

The Cruel, Cruel Road

Despite the club’s winning ways, 11 of the past 17 games were at home. On the road, the Blazers have lost all but five of 15 games. Clearly, blasting more George Thorogood and Steppenwolf from the team plane’s speakers would be a helpful corrective measure, but will it be enough?

The Celtic Knot

C’mon, this just isn’t fair! Kevin Garnett averaged just over 23 points per game against the Blazers as a Minnesota Timberwolf last year. And since his arrival in Boston, Garnett has tough-as-nails Paul Pierce and cooler-than-ice Ray Allen as wingmen. This should be the single biggest challenge for the Blazers , and the Jan. 16 matchup will serve as a great indicator of how Portland really stacks up against elite squads.

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Dwight Danger

Portland shut Dwight Howard down when Orlando visited the Rose Garden earlier this season, which is all the more reason Blazer bigmen need to watch their backs. Howard is going to try to kill Joel Przybilla and Channing Frye when the teams meet in Orlando on Jan. 19. While Howard mercilessly posterizes the entire team, though, fans can comfort themselves by envisioning all the epic Greg Oden-vs.-Howard battles to come.

Haarlow Can You Go?

This year’s switch from Fox to Comcast SportsNet was supposed to be an improvement for fans. But aside from isolating thousands of Comcast-less rural viewers, CSN sideline reporter Rebecca Haarlow is…well, she’s still a rookie. Most troublingly, Haarlow makes forward Travis Outlaw visibly giddy. One too many enthusiastic question-statements (“Talk about how it feels to be winning!”) at halftime and she could ice the Blazers’ fourth-quarter whiz kid for good.