After snapping a seven-game losing streak with two big wins last week, the Trail Blazers lost their lone game this week 97-111 to a Pelicans team with the fourth-worst scoring offense in the league. It was the sixth time this season Portland has scored less than 100 points, exceeding the number of less-than-100-point scoring outputs in all of the 2020-21 season (five). Damian Lillard poured in 39 points and was ejected for the first time in his career after receiving his second technical with only a second left in the game. Portland was within two points in the fourth quarter but allowed New Orleans to end the game on a 19-6 run.

The Pelicans game provided a much-needed opportunity for the Blazers to win more than two games in a row, but with a loss, Portland has proven unable to do that in the entire month of December. To make matters worse, multiple players on Portland’s roster have entered the league’s Covid-19 related health and safety protocols since returning from last week’s short road stint. Despite other injuries and distractions, the Trail Blazers had largely been able to avoid the Covid-19 outbreaks that we’ve seen deplete NBA rosters of late, but now with coach Chauncey Billups and seven players out with Covid-related absences, we can add that to the list of hurdles in an already tumultuous season for Portland. The Blazers have signed three G-league players to 10-day hardship exception contracts. Had they not signed F Jarron Cumberland, F Cameron McGriff, and G Brandon Williams, Portland wouldn’t have had the required eight players to play Monday night’s game against the Mavericks. Portland was able to hang with the Mavericks, who are in a similar Covid situation, for much of the first half, but with a decimated bench and no one above 6’7” on the active roster, the Blazers’ lack of size and depth proved lethal as the Mavericks blew the game open in the second half and shot 57% for the game on their way to a 132-117 victory.

On the bright side, Nassir Little recorded a season-high 20 points to go with 10 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals in the Mavericks game and the losses to the roster have provided an opportunity for some younger players to log more minutes. Damian Lillard has been putting up All-Star numbers again, averaging 32.2 points, 5.8 assists, and 3.6 rebounds over the last five games. If these trends can continue once Portland gets much of their roster back from health and safety protocols and CJ McCollum back from injury then maybe, just maybe they can go on a run and find some consistency to begin the new year.

Coming in as low as No. 24 and as high as No. 23 in this week’s power rankings, Portland canceled out the progress it made in last week’s rankings with a loss to a bottom-tier team on a short week. Here’s where the Blazers sit in the 11th edition of the weekly power rankings after a tough week on and off the court.

• John Schuhmann at NBA.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 24 this week, two spots worse than last week...

The Blazers are somehow in the bottom five of a conference that includes the Thunder, Rockets, Pelicans, Kings, Spurs and Timberwolves. Because their game against Brooklyn was postponed, their only game last week was a loss to the Pelicans in which they allowed a bottom-10 offense to score 60 points on just 42 possessions in the second half. Their defense had shown some signs of progress over the last few weeks, but that was obviously a step backward. Portland’s is the only defense that ranks in the bottom five in both opponent field goal percentage in the paint (57.5%, 26th) and opponent effective field goal percentage outside the paint (52.6%, 28th).
The Brooklyn postponement did give them a five-day break and one fewer game missed for CJ McCollum, who will be reevaluated this week, with his collapsed lung having healed. Damian Lillard had a third straight game of more than 30 points in New Orleans and now has an effective field goal percentage of 67% over that mini-stretch. And it should be noted that, even though he’s registered the lowest effective field goal percentage of his career (48.8%), the Blazers’ offense has scored 13.6 more points per 100 possessions with him on the floor (113.6) than it has with him off the floor (100.0). That on-floor mark ranks 12th among players who’ve averaged at least 20 minutes per game for a team other than the Jazz.
The Blazers had a six-game home losing streak, but they’re 9-1 at the Moda Center with both Lillard and McCollum in the lineup. They’re home for six of their next seven, with their first meeting against the Mavs on Monday.

Schuhmann has the Trail Blazers behind the Pacers at No. 23 and ahead of the Thunder at No. 25.

• The panel of voters at ESPN has the Trail Blazers at No. 24 this week, three spots worse than last week...

From the investigation into and then firing of GM Neil Olshey to the trade speculation surrounding Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, Portland's season is on the brink. The organization needs to decide whether to change the roster around Lillard or make sweeping changes and rebuild since the Blazers are six games under .500. Or, they can stick with what they have and hope that the team finds its groove with rookie coach Chauncey Billups and make a run for a playoff spot.

The folks at ESPN have the Trail Blazers behind the Pacers at No. 23 and ahead of the Pelicans at No. 25.

• Zach Harper at The Athletic has the Trail Blazers at No. 23 this week, two spots worse than last week...

Key three: Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic | 399 minutes | +1.0 net rating
CJ McCollum’s injury means we haven’t seen this one for a while. But the Portland Trail Blazers have invested heavily in this trio being something truly meaningful. Damian Lillard is still the heart of all this, but the Blazers have struggled all season long to put together a good product. Jusuf Nurkic is asked to anchor a defense with a lot of holes in it. The Blazers may need to find a change at some point soon with its roster construction, but at least when this team gets back to full strength, you can expect better play when these three are in the game. Lillard and McCollum need to help everything by being more potent offensively and getting that offensive rating well above 109.0 per 100 possessions.
Booster player: Robert Covington | 337 minutes | -0.3 net rating
The fall of Robert Covington has been dramatic. He was supposed to come into the mix last year and solve a lot of the issues they had as one of the worst defenses in NBA history. Instead, Covington just hasn’t been able to have a consistent impact. We’re not seeing anything like what we saw when he joined Minnesota or Houston. He’s still a solid defender but not a true difference-maker. He’s not a consistent enough shooter to be truly feared. They need so much more from him, mostly on defense. They need to find the guy they were trading for.

Harper has the Trail Blazers behind the Spurs at No. 22 and ahead of the Pacers at No. 24.

• Jeremy Woo at Sports Illustrated has the Trail Blazers at No. 24 this week, one spot worse than last week...

All the injuries and COVID-related issues have laid bare Portland’s lack of depth, which should stand as one of the failures of Neil Olshey’s tenure. It’s not a coincidence that the Blazers are the last team without a G League affiliate. They’ve also wasted a two-way contract slot on Damian Lillard’s cousin for the last two seasons. Sometimes, you make your own bed.

Woo has the Trail Blazers behind the Raptors at No. 23 and ahead of the Kings at No. 25.