Despite losing their last three games, the Portland Trail Blazers fell just a single spot from 16th to 17th in the latest leaguewide power rankings from NBA.com.
Their improvement from the early part of the season has largely been from their defense. John Schumann writes:
Defense continues to be where Portland has seen the bigger improvement as it has gone 15-9 since mid-January. Only the Lakers have allowed fewer points per 100 possessions than Portland (109.3) over that stretch. The biggest source of the improvement has been opponent 3-point shooting: 38% (30th) through their first 41 games and just 32.