Quietly, the Portland Trail Blazers have put together the third best defense in the NBA so far this season. That’s the reason they are 13-8 and fourth in the Western Conference, and it’s the reason they went 3-1 last week all on the road (they were 4-1 on the road trip total).
Well, that and Damian Lillard, our PBT Extra Player of the Week.
Lillard averaged 31.3 points per game last week, hitting 39.5 percent of his threes, and dishing out more than five assists per game. He just makes the Blazers’ offense work, it is 7.2 points per 100 possessions better when he is on the court scoring and creating for others. Which is what he did in leading the Blazers to wins in Washington and New York.
Portland remains one of the best league pass teams out there, they are fun to watch (if frustrating at times).