Portland's Trailblazing Thru the NBA

The Portland Trailblazers are on pace to have their best season since 1991 and have begun to grab the leagues attention.

Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

The Trailblazers have always been a steady team in the NBA, always teetering around the 8th seed in the West, but this year they are proving to be a much more mature bunch. With 2nd year PG Damian Lillard and All-Star PF LaMarcus Aldridge leading the way, the Blazers have an NBA-Best record of 22-4 while also averaging an NBA-Best 108.3 points per game.

The Blazers are running the 3-rich offense, which means their setting up jump shots and they've been shooting a great percentage when they hit those jump shots, with Aldridge and Lillard both averaging over 20 points a game(Aldridge 23.6ppg, Lillard 20.7ppg). A lot of people say, "The 3-rich offense won't last until the playoffs, or eventually the percentages will go down and they'll start missing those shots." Well I am not sure if any of those people have seen this team play with Lillard the cold-blooded killer and with the addition of C Robin Lopez down low, which allows Aldridge to play his natural position at the PF, and this team just may have something here. The team as a whole is shooting over 80% from the free throw line with 3 players shooting over 40% from the 3 (SF Nicolas Batum 40%, Lillard 42%, SG Wesley Matthews 45%).

Portland currently has the best win percentage in the NBA (84%) and have won 9 of their last 10 games. They have already showed how they stack up against some of the elite with wins over the Pacers, Spurs, and Thunder. They still have a long road ahead of them but they are positioning themselves for a great run this year. They will face a real test at the end of the December when they play Clippers, Miami, @NO and @OKC within a 6-day span. Only then will we really know what this Blazers team will be made of. With the Blazers being the only NBA team around (Bring Back Our Sonics!) I know that I can't wait to watch how this team pans out, especially since I get all of their games on cable here in the Pacific NorthWest.

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