Remain Calm...

Relax, take a deep breath, 26 games to go and the Blazers are 2.5 games out of a playoff spot and just beat the Jazz and Lakers in a back to back, pretty convincingly too. The final scores weren't as close as the games were in the last 5 minutes. Let's put some of the cards on the table as we take a look at this thing, I'm sure The Other Guy will have a full schedule analysis of all the teams and an odds report soon. Here are some things to consider, in handy dandy bullet format.

• They are 2.5 games behind the Warriors, who have a comical 6-20 record, and the NOOCH.
• They are 2 games behind the Wolves and the Clip.
• They are 1 game behind the Kings.
• The most difficult part of it is obviously the 5 teams to climb over, but it should also be noted that in the loss column they are 3 games behind all 5.
• The Trade Deadline could throw this whole thing into a bigger mess than it already is. The Clip could deal Maggette, the Kings could deal Bibby, and the Wolves could deal anyone including KG. I think the NOOCH is the most dangerous with Chris Paul back.

And finally, it has to be noted that the Blazers are playing better basketball than they have in years and now have a stretch of games that goes like this: Memphis, at Seattle, Charlotte, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Golden State. 5 home games and the only roadie up to face the Sonics. 5-1 would put them 29-33 and probably has them within a game of the 8 spot with 20 games to play. They also have Seattle twice more at home, Memphis again at home, the Knicks and Hawks on the road, the Clip once at each place, and Warriors at home. Remain calm...all is well.