The Portland Trail Blazers (36-26; fourth in the Western Conference) are rolling. Winners of five straight — and seven of their last eight — the boys in the red, black, silver and white are playing their best basketball of the season.
After a poor shooting start against Minnesota (38-27; third in the Western Conference), the Blazers upped the defensive pressure and made enough shots to pull away for the 108-99 victory. The win moved them into fourth place in the stacked and loaded Western Conference.
For Rip City, this is, of course, great news.