You have to hand it to the Portland Trail Blazers. At least in four of their recent five games.

Returning with a 4-1 record on a weeklong road trip through Memphis, Minnesota, New Orleans, Charlotte and Atlanta is nothing to scoff at. They won on that trip. They grew on that trip. They returned a better team thanks to that trip.

Balanced scoring from the starting unit did the trick in Memphis. Greg Oden didn’t commit a single foul or turnover at Minnesota. LaMarcus Aldridge’s double-double (20 points and 13 rebounds), along with Portland’s improved defense triggered the win in New Orleans. And the Blazers finally showed a little fire when Aldridge mixed it up with Raja Bell and Brandon Roy let Gerald Wallace know Portland wasn’t going to be pushed around in Charlotte.

But let’s be honest. Wasn’t Portland expected to win those four games?

We’ll exclude Monday night’s overtime loss to Atlanta for a second. Surely makes for a long flight home.

But the previous four contests – all wins (part of a six game win streak) where Portland held the opposition to 84 points or less – should have been counted as wins even before the Blazers left Rip City. What they have yet to prove is can Portland beat those teams with equal or better records?

And can they do it repeatedly?

Wins over Houston and San Antonio earlier this season count. Oklahoma City is suspect. But that's it.

The Blazers won’t necessarily get that chance over the next five games – Detroit, Golden State, Minnesota, Chicago and New Jersey - four of which are at the Rose Garden. Detroit and Chicago are both hovering around .500 with 5 wins each, Golden State is 3 – 5, and Minnesota and New Jersey are a combined 1-20.

Ouch.

The Blazers may have not gone a perfect 5-0 on their last stretch of games, but they should with the next five.

photo: ap

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