NBA games of the week: Blazers can’t be stopped

This edition of the NBA games of the week is brought to you by the streaking Portland Trail Blazers.

Sorry Toronto. Up until about 1 a.m. on Saturday morning, you were the pick. Not only did the Raptors stuff the Rockets’ league-leading 17-game win streak at home on Drake Night, they extended their own streak to seven games. The New Orleans Pelicans, who had their own winning streak, had it snapped. Oh did the illustrious games of the week, in the same style of College Gameday, have plans to make its way across the border.

But then the Blazers happened. Winners of eight in a row, they held off a Kevin Durant onslaught, whom they didn’t trap or force the ball out of his hands until late, and rode hot second-half shooting (8-12 on 3-pointers in the fourth quarter) to extend their win streak to nine.

Against a healthy Warriors team, or simply a Warriors team with Steph Curry on the floor, perhaps the result is different. Perhaps the Warriors get their lead late and keep it. But credit the Blazers for playing the Warriors the way teams should if someone like the two-time MVP is out. They allowed Durant to get his, and when Durant caught fire, they forced the ball out of his hands and dared players like Quinn Cook to beat them. The Blazers had seven players in double-figures. The Warriors had three, and one of them was JaVale McGee. How many games will you win if he’s your third-leading scorer?

This week, Portland plays four times, three of which are home. The Clippers are the lone team they will face on the road. Can the Blazers extend their win streak to 13? Here are the games of the week.