The Portland Trail Blazers have officially climbed to the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference for the time being, and their potential opponents in the first round of the playoffs are taking them seriously.
Addressing the media Wednesday, Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma said that he was not afraid of seeing Portland in the opening round but did admit that it would be a “tough matchup,” per Lakers reporter Ryan Ward.
The Blazers have gone 5-2 in the bubble to jump the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 8 spot. Indeed, their high-scoring backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum would be difficult for the Lakers to contain without their top perimeter defender, Avery Bradley. Meanwhile, Portland’s trio of seven-footers in Jusuf Nurkic, Hassan Whiteside, and Zach Collins could counter the bigs of the Lakers, who are one of the league’s top rebounding and shot-blocking teams.
While the Blazers still need to win a play-in series to even get to the Lakers in the first place, they are playing with a real swagger right now, and that will make them a challenging out for any team they face in the playoffs.
