Chapter 79: An Unexpected Opponent

The Trail Blazers eliminated the Golden State Warriors with a 3:0 sweep, marking their third consecutive year sweeping opponents in the first round.

From this, it's evident that the Trail Blazers are a solidly consistent team, tough for weaker opponents to beat.

In the regular season, we often see hollow pseudo-strong teams that end up with good records and rankings.

But once they enter the playoffs, they become stepping stones, easily upset by teams with far worse records, often struggling embarrassingly.

Yes, I'm talking about the Portland Trail Blazers without Gan Guoyang, who in '84 were second in the Western Conference but were eliminated in the first round, watching the Suns advance to the Western Conference Finals.

In 1981, they were fourth in the Western Conference and faced the Kansas City Kings, who were fifth and had six fewer wins, yet were upset and watched the Kings advance to the Western Conference Finals.