Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images Ten years to the day after one of Lillard’s biggest moments, his Bucks crumple under injuries and expectations. Damian Lillard is keenly aware of the date of May 2nd, because it was the date of one of highest points of his career. And now it’s also the date of one of his lowest. Ten years ago to the day, the 2014 NBA Playoff series between the Rockets and Blazers ended with the buzzer-beating shot in Game 6 that made Damian Lillard a star. (The legendary four-overtime 2019 Playoff victory over the Denver Nuggets missed by just one day, occurring on M ..read more

Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images A couple wild NBA Playoff series continue Thursday night. Let’s get back to business with two huge Game 6’s tonight. 3:30 pm | TNT | Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers (Pacers lead 3-2). The Bucks listed Damian Lillard as active but the Pacers easily defeated the Bucks and are into the second round. 6:00 pm | TNT | New York Knicks at Philadelphia 76ers (Knicks lead 3-2). Josh Hart hit the key three-pointer late in the fourth to give the Knicks the advantage, and New York is headed to round two. Hang out, chat here about the games, and be nice to each other ..read more

Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images Awful Announcing brings back their announcer ratings, and Portland is just above the middle of the pack. Awful Announcing updated their every-four-years fan vote for the best and worst local announcing teams in the NBA. The Portland Trail Blazers’ team of Kevin Calabro and Lamar Hurd ranked just above average, in twelfth place. The team ranked fourth in 2020. As a fan vote, relevant or large-market teams often receive far more attention, both positive and negative. The Trail Blazers have been essentially invisible on the national scene over the past t ..read more

Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports Portland isn’t in a great position, but they may not be the worst. The Portland Trail Blazers aren’t in a pretty position following their 21-61 exit from the 2023-24 regular season. They’re among the NBA’s worst teams by record, but does that translate into being one of the worst teams overall? That’s the subject of today’s Blazer’s Edge Mailbag. Dave, Been reading with interest your after season analysis. I agree with most of it including the part where you say the Blazers are in a void right now. Are they the worst team in the league do you think? In the worst ..read more

Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images Wholesale changes may be afoot for national coverage of the NBA. Comcast’s NBC Universal is prepping a huge bid to take over TNT’s role of the NBA national broadcaster. The Wall Street Journal broke the news Monday, with Deadline reporting details afterward. Turner has broadcast NBA games since 1988, starting with random prime-time games on TBS before eventually moving them to TNT for marquee games. NBC Universal is reportedly planning to offer $2.5 billion, with hopes that a struggling Warner Brothers Discovery may not be willing or able to match. The ..read more

Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports The league appears to be experiencing a shift. How can Portland ride it? The 2024 NBA Playoffs have taken an unexpected turn. If a player’s jersey sits in the Top 10 of NBA sales, hanging like an advertisement in sports-store windows, he’s probably heading for vacation instead of strategizing for the second round. The empty hands of traditional league stalwarts has prompted this question for the Blazer’s Edge Mailbag. Dave, It seems like we’re experiencing a changing of the guard with veteran stars heading into the sunset and young athletes taking over. How do yo ..read more

Photo by Cameron Browne/NBAE via Getty Images New Orleans will be shopping for some different players this summer. After big expectations, key injuries, and a failed playoff run, the New Orleans Hornets don’t plan to “run it back”. After being swept out of the playoffs by the ascending Oklahoma City Thunder, Vice President David Griffin talked to the press Tuesday. He didn’t mince words about the team’s plans this summer. “Whereas in the past we’ve always erred on the side of continuity, and our takeaway has been, ‘Let’s see this group healthy,’ I think we’ve seen it enough,” Griffin said at ..read more

Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images Three series continue on Tuesday with two teams having a chance to clinch their respective series. The NBA Playoffs continue today with a trio of series. At 4:00 p.m. PT, the New York Knicks are at home hoping to clinch a spot in the next round in Game 5 against the Philadelphia 76ers. At 5:00 p.m. PT, the Orlando Magic visit the Cleveland Cavaliers, where a 2-2 tie will be broken. To cap the night off at 6:30 p.m. PT, Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks face elimination against Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers. Conversation Rules Please remember ou ..read more

Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images The latest We Like the Blazers tackles the first round of the playoffs so far. With the 2024 NBA Playoffs in full swing, the league has a challenge: how to market its product and talk about the sport in ways that resonate with its most hardcore fans, AND make it accessible and enjoyable to a more casual audience who may be watching their first NBA games of the year. On the latest We Like the Blazers, Ryan and I debate whether the NBA is over-marketing its biggest stars - the LeBron James’ and Kevin Durant’s of the league - in an attempt to appeal to casual fa ..read more

Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports A season after the big trade, where do the centers stand? In the wake of trading Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Summer of 2023, the Portland Trail Blazers made another huge deal, swapping center Jusuf Nurkic to the Phoenix Suns for Deandre Ayton. Now that both teams have been eliminated from the playoffs, one Blazer’s Edge Reader wants us to re-examine the exchange. That’s the subject of today’s Blazer’s Edge Mailbag. Dear Dave, I’ve been interested in your take on the Deandre Ayton v Jusuf Nurkic topic that has popped up through much of the season ..read more