The Portland Trail Blazers tip off their preseason opener on Friday night against the LA Clippers in Seattle. Its the first matchup of a four-game preseason slate that includes a Sunday stop in Sacramento, a home matchup against German club Ulm next Wednesday and a home finale against the Utah Jazz next Friday.
That gives the Blazers one week of games to shake off the rust, fine-tune chemistry and iron out the rotation before the regular season begins on Oct. 23 against the Golden State Warriors.
Preseason play should never be taken as gospel.