Blazers Hold Steady In Week 19 NBA Power Rankings

The Portland Trail Blazers held steady in the latest round of NBA Power Rankings after a 2-2 week (Through Monday, when most Power Rankings go live) that included wins over the Charlotte Bobcats and San Antonio Spurs and losses to the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets.

Last week, the Blazers mostly ranged from 17-20. This week, it was almost exactly the same.

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Marc Stein of ESPN.com ranks the Blazers No. 17 (same as last week).

At 9-18 since its 20-15 start, Portland is leaving us little choice but to devote this precious real estate to Damian Lillard and his bid to join Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Damon Stoudamire, Allen Iverson and Steve Francis on the short list of rookies in history who averaged 18 PPG and six APG.

John Schuhmann of NBA.com ranks the Blazers No. 20 (same as last week).

The Blazers' 136 points (79 in the second half) in San Antonio on Friday was maybe the most out-of-nowhere performance of the season. To prove it, they came back down to earth with Sunday's loss to the Hornets, even though Wesley Matthews hit three more clutch-time 3-pointers to give him a league-leading 15 for the season. He's got some more work to do to catch Mike James' 22 in 2005-06.

Matt Dollinger of SI.com ranks the Blazers No. 18 (same as last week). Note: this one was posted last Friday.

Eric Maynor is already looking like a steal for the Blazers, averaging 9.6 points and 6.3 assists off the bench in his last three games. Maynor, who fell out of favor in Oklahoma City because of Reggie Jackson's emergence, played more than 20 minutes in each of those three games after seeing that much playing time just once in 37 games in OKC. He's getting time at both backcourt spots for the Blazers and making them look wise for acquiring him for essentially nothing at the deadline.

Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk.com ranks the Blazers No. 19 (up from No. 20).

As injuries have pushed Andre Drummond, Anthony Davis and others to the side it has become more and more clear Damian Lillard will run away with Rookie of the Year. So, there's your bright spot, Blazers fans.

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports ranks the Blazers No. 19 (down from No. 18 last week).

The Blazers, who host the Grizzlies on Tuesday, will be hoping Memphis is looking ahead to their West showdown Wednesday night against the Clippers.

David Aldridge of NBA.com did not include the Blazers in his "fine 15" this week.

John Hollinger (formerly) of ESPN.com ranks the Blazers No. 20 (up from No. 21 last week).

According to Hollinger's team stats, the Blazers ranked...

• No. 12 (up from No. 14 last week) in offensive efficiency
• No. 25 (same as last week) in defensive efficiency
• No. 17 (down from No. 16 last week) in rebound rate
• No. 20 (down from No. 18 last week) in pace

Hollinger's Playoff odds: 5.5 percent (up from 5.1 percent)

Basketball-Reference.com Playoff Forecast: 2.6 percent (up from 1.5 percent)

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter