Portland Is Turning Heads: Are the Trail Blazers Becoming a Real NBA Threat?

Portland showed strength Tuesday night by beating Oklahoma City 123 to 103 at Moda Center. Noteworthy was this victory because the Thunder entered this game on a four game winning streak. Damian Lillard scored 25 points and Deni Avdija 24 and also had eight assists and six rebounds. Blazers record is now 7 wins to 3 losses and this result gives supporters fresh reasons to believe in this team going forward.

Portland's biggest breakthrough occurred in the third quarter. After teams were tied at halftime 59, Portland began with much more offensive drive and outscored Oklahoma City 38 to 21 in that period. Lillard hit four threes and Portland had a strong attack from deep that troubled defense of the Thunder. Blazers took 50 threes and made 19 but Oklahoma City only hit 8 of 22. That difference proved decisive in the game.

This team has reason to be excited beyond a single huge win. Avdija continues to show he is both a scorer and distributor. Donovan Clingan also adds 13 rebounds and Jeurue Holiday injects valuable experience. Sidy Cissoko scores 17 points and Scoot Henderson scores 11 from the bench too. Portland has multiple players who can make a difference and this becomes increasingly important as the season gets harder. However Thunder also missed key players such as Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams; results like this need to be weighed against that context as well.

So do Blazers actually play really good? Evidence so far points to the team as one worth watching but it is still too early to say they are a clear contender for championship. They have had a hot start winning seven out of the first three games and they have depth that scores well and they are good at scoring from outside the basket. The real test will be consistency though. Can Portland repeat this level of winning against opponents who play at full strength and who shoot well? If Blazers can win at high level even if they miss shots soon this talk about this team might really change.