The offense is humming. The victories are coming. The Trail Blazers, more or less, are handling the teams they are supposed to be handling.
But it hasn't always been pretty. And it certainly hasn't been easy.
So as they eked out a too-close-for-comfort overtime win, 122-120, over the Sacramento Kings Friday night at the Moda Center, as the defense withered, as another double-digit lead disappeared, it was fair to wonder: Are the Blazers really playing all that well?
"We're playing OK," Moe Harkless said. "We have spurts."
In many ways, Friday night's victory was a microcosm of the Blazers' season thus far.