Portland will play the final road game of a disappointing campaign when it travels to Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon. The Trail Blazers have lost seven of their last eight games, including a 129-127 loss at San Antonio on Thursday. Los Angeles is coming off a 125-118 win over the Lakers and is trying to avoid the play-in tournament.
Portland has been a disaster since winning back-to-back games against Orlando and Detroit at the beginning of March, which put the Trail Blazers at 31-34 overall. They have lost 13 of their 15 games since then, with their two wins coming at Utah and Minnesota. Their Western Conference play-in tournament hopes were dashed last week, as they are going to finish at No. 13 in the standings. Portland is wrapping up a four-game road trip on Saturday afternoon before hosting Golden State on Sunday afternoon. The Trail Blazers lost to the Clippers by 15 points when these teams met in the middle of March.
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They have shut down leading scorer Damian Lillard for the remainder of the season due to a calf injury, while Anfernee Simons, Jusuf Nurkic, Jerami Grant and Trendon Watford are all going to be sidelined on Saturday afternoon, along with several other role players. Drew Eubanks scored 23 points on Thursday, while Kevin Knox finished with a season-high 24 points off the bench. Skylar Mays and Shaquille Harrison stepped in for Lillard at point guard. Portland ranks No. 19 in the NBA in scoring (113.4) and is facing a Los Angeles defense that is No. 13 (112.9).