As the NBA regular season approaches the halfway mark, the conversation has shifted from a surprising start in Portland to whether or not the Blazers are legitimate title contenders. This is a nice conversation to be a part of.
After a decade-plus of false hope, tragedy and mediocrity, the Portland Trail Blazers have risen to the top of the NBA. They have been placed No. 1 in many expert power rankings and even briefly held the best record in the league.
The Blazers enter the new year at 25–7, which is one of the best starts in franchise history. The only better seasons were ’77–’78, when they were 27–5 behind Bill Walton’s MVP year, and the ’90–’91 team, also 27–5. The strong starting lineup is a big reason for the spectacular start.
LaMarcus Aldridge has won multiple Western Conference Player of the Month awards and distinguished himself as a dark horse league MVP candidate. Damian Lillard continues to play a dazzling brand of basketball following his Rookie of the Year season. He has increased his focus on defense, developed crazy long range— swishing 3-pointers from 4 feet behind the line—and made several game-winning buckets.
Wes Matthews and Nic Batum are having career years, being the glue and fill-in-the-blank guys who make this team so productive on both sides of the floor. And a huge amount of credit must go to the new starter on the squad, Robin Lopez.
Sideshow Rob has provided everything the Blazers need: interior defense, shot blocking and an effective, if not flashy, scoring ability at the center position. So much pressure is removed from Aldridge with Lopez in the middle; he can now play his natural power forward spot consistently and feel more comfortable 15 feet away from the basket, where his jumper is so deadly.
The Blazers starters combine to average more than 80 points a game. The reserve players, clearly the weak point of last year’s team, have dramatically improved. Mo Williams has been a reliable sixth man, providing a scoring spark off the bench and giving Lillard relief from handling the ball every possession. Englishman Joel Freeland has done Queen and Country proud with his workhorse efforts under the basket. Freeland hustles, finds loose balls and never tries to overachieve, favoring the pass over a contested put-back.
Thomas Robinson, the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2012 and an exciting addition over the summer, has been disappointing. He’s playing 11 minutes a game and averaging 5 points and 3 1/2 rebounds, which doesn’t sound too bad, but the second unit defense often falls apart and Robinson has been the culprit. He was recently benched in favor of second-year big man Meyers Leonard, who rarely made it on the court in the early part of the season.
Allen Crabbe and Dorell Wright both play small amounts of backup minutes; they mostly stand around drawing away defenders or making them pay with open 3-pointers.
Overall, the chemistry of this team is strong; they seem to like playing together, and a share-the-ball attitude gives everyone the opportunity to contribute. Second-year head coach Terry Stotts also deserves a lot of credit. He has an offensive philosophy based on movement without the ball, spacing, unselfish passing and shooting lots of 3-pointers that his team embraces. The Blazers lead the NBA in 3-pointers made and overall offense, averaging over 108 points per game. They have scored over 100 in 19 straight games.
The Trail Blazers’ season resume has some impressive wins on it. They have already beaten such Western Conference powerhouses as the Spurs, Thunder (twice), Warriors, Rockets and Clippers. In early December they defeated the Indiana Pacers 106–102; last year the Pacers took the eventual champs to seven games in a hard-fought Eastern Conference Finals. Speaking of the champs, the Miami Heat were in town Dec. 28 when Chris Bosh ripped out Portland’s heart with
a game-winning 3-pointer. Bosh shoots below 30 percent behind the arc for his career.
Looking ahead, the Blazers face a tough schedule in January, featuring a four-game road trip against the three Texas teams, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Blazermania is back and in full swing. For a city with such a love affair with their sports team, nothing compares with watching the Blazers win again and again. 2014 should be an exciting year for any fan of good basketball, especially Blazers fans. Go get ‘em, Rip City.