Portland Trail Blazers fans understandably wanted to see their up-and-coming team in the NBA Cup, which would've given their young roster more valuable experience in a playoff-like atmosphere. Unfortunately, that didn't come to fruition after Portland's 115-102 home loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 26.
The silver lining is that, because they aren't in the NBA Cup, Portland's next game won't be until Thursday, Dec. 11, against the New Orleans Pelicans. That's a nice mini break, and it honestly couldn't have come at a better time.
Blazers set to benefit from mini-break
Portland hasn't been able to maintain its strong start to the season and now sits 10th in the Western Conference with a 9-15 record, having dropped 10 of its last 13 games.