The Portland Trail Blazers are considered by many as the strongest possible number eight seed in the Western Conference that could face the Los Angeles Lakers in first round of the playoffs. NBA legend Charles Barkley even said that the Blazers will make it to the finals.
According to sports analyst Nick Wright, the teams in the West, including the Los Angeles Clippers, are intentionally losing games to help Portland reach the playoffs and pit them against the Lakers with a hope of them knocking the Purple and Gold out.
Yesterday, Wright speculated that the Clippers would rest Kawhi Leonard against the Blazers for that purpose. It may have been a wild speculation but indeed Kawhi is not playing today.
