Wesley Matthew Doing His Part To Get Portland Trail Blazers Into NBA Playoffs

Wesley Matthews has been doing his part. Now it’s time for the rest of his Portland Trail Blazers to make sure they’re doing their part.

Matthews had a terrific performance Tuesday night at the Milwaukee Bucks in a game the Blazers absolutely had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. They lost 102-95, which doesn’t mathematically kick the Blazers out of NBA playoff contention, but they’re getting close.

Matthews played all but five minutes and shot 10-of-20 from the floor and 7-of-11 in  3-pointers. Just because of the way Matthews played, the Trail Blazers should have won, but Matthew’s teammates just haven’t been putting together a strong defensive game attack in recent outings.

“I don’t think it’s effort,” said Portland coach Terry Stotts. “My main concern is probably focus. We’re making mistakes that we know better. Whether it’s gambling or not being alert on a play – I thought it was more mental than anything else as far as just being focused. I thought our movement and our alertness in the second half was very obvious. That was just really being in tune with what we were trying to get done. “

But at least Matthews had one of the greatest games of his career. He’s now shooting 43.7 percent from the floor and 40.2 percent in 3-point attempts. He’s starting to play in late-season form. At 15 points a game, he hasn’t had a bad season. Hopefully, his season will extend to the playoffs. But, his teammates need to start following Matthews’ example, because he can’t take them to the playoffs by himself.