Portland's Playoff Hopes

Wesley Matthews went down. Not long before that Arron Afflalo was involved in a trade that sent him to Portland. Okay, we have Afflalo to start. The only thing is, what will they do in the Playoffs. Arron Afflalo is no Wesley Matthews. He is simply not as great as Wesley Matthews. Lets take a look at what Matthews brought to this Portland team.

Wesley Matthews

• 15.9 PPG
• 44.8% FG
• 38.8% 3 point range
• 2.9 3 point makes per game
• 1.3 Steals per game
• 1.4 Turnovers Per Game
• 2.3 ASP
• 3.7 RPG
• Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) 99.4
• +4.6 on the court

Arron Afflalo

• 13.6 PPG
• 42.6% FG
• 35.0% 3 Point Range
• 1.5 3 point makes per game
• 0.5 Steals per game
• 1.6 Turnovers Per game
• 1.7 APG
• 3.2 RPG
• Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) 105.7
• +2.3 on the court

Wesley Matthews leads in all of those categorizes. Look at the +/- advantage. Matthews has double than Afflalo does with the Trailblazers. The teams defense is better with Matthews and they give up more points with Afflalo. I'm not saying Afflalo is a bad player. I love Afflalo, but he is just not as good of a player as Wesley Matthews. I think that Portland's playoff hopes have really been lost since Matthews went down. Afflalo is a great player, and Portland has Damian Lillard and LeMarcus Aldridge, but Wesley Matthews is the player that made this team so great. Now he's not here. How will they win in the playoffs without him? 

Why are the Pelicans not in the playoffs

The Pelicans have one of the most talented teams in the NBA. They have all-star Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, Jrue Holiday, and Omir Asik. That is a great starting five, but they are not in the playoff picture. Why? First off, injuries. This team has been hit hard with injuries. Anthony Davis has been out for about half the season. Jrue Holiday has also had injuries. Those are just the main ones. This team is great with their play running. However, if you are going to win games people have to hit shots. Tyreke Evans is a player who has failed to hit shots when their main players have been out with injury. Of of the main reasons though, is that they are in the western conference. If they were in the east, they would be in the 6th seed, not to mention they would have more games against teams like the 76ers and the Knicks. That's tough luck though, because your in the West and there is nothing you can do about that. This team has a record of 39-34 so they should be a playoff team. What do they need to do to get to the playoffs? All they can do. Win as many games as they can, and hope the Thunder loose some key games. Other than that, you can't do much in the West. I feel bad for this talented team as they have been struck by injury and are stuck in such a talented conference. I wish good luck to the Pelicans in their playoff hunt. One of these years, they will get it. They will make the playoffs.