Trail Blazers Have 19th Best Shot at NBA Championship

ThePortland Trail Blazershaven’t instilled a lot of hope in FiveThirtyEight,which has given the Oregon franchise the 19th best chanceat the Larry O’Brien Trophy this season.

The pollsters have predicted the Blazers to finish with a 38-44 record — an improvement of 11 games on last season — just below theNew York Knicksand above theUtah Jazz.

It predicts Portland to carry -1 percent point differential, giving the squad a 42 percent chance to make the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference.

The Playoffs are an even worse proposition with FiveThirtyEight giving the Blazers a 1 percent chance of making the Finals and 0.3 percent at winning the title.

TheBoston CelticsandDenver Nuggetshave been given the best chance to make the Finals at 33 percent and 26 respectively, followed by theMemphis Grizzlies(17 percent),Dallas Mavericks(14 percent) andPhiladelphia 76ers(13 percent).

TheHouston Rockets,Detroit Pistons,Orlando Magic,Oklahoma City Thunder,Washington Wizards,San Antonio Spurs,Sacramento Kings,Indiana Pacers,Los Angeles Lakers,Chicago Bulls, and Utah Jazz all have worse chances for the title than the Blazers according to the website, which uses simulations, depth charts, player projections, and injury reports to assign percentages.