One day after a hard-fought win on Thursday, the Portland Trail Blazers headed out of town.
What awaits is four games in five nights in the Eastern and Central time zones.
The Blazers play Saturday against the young Philadelphia 76ers, who have predictably cooled off since their 3-0 start to the season.
Philadelphia is just the first of a group of young, eager and talented teams that the Blazers will face.
Portland swept a four-game Eastern Conference road trip last month. But things have changed a lot since then.
For Nicolas Batum, having the target on their back is something he still can’t wrap his head around.
“Because we are number one in the west, we are the best team on the road, so all those teams are going to try and make a statement and beat us,” he said.
“I can’t understand that. So we have to try to be careful because this team is going to be angry, this team is going to do something because the Blazers are number one. We have to beat them. It won’t be easy. It’s four tough games so we need to win those four anyway.”
The Blazers have been adamant that nothing for them has changed. Their mindset is still the same and they still need to get better.
“The same as it’s been,” LaMarcus Aldridge said. “We’re going to go out, work hard and grind out wins.”
Aldridge and the rest of the team think their win against Houston, where they contained the high-octane Rockets offense, was a step in the right direction.
For Damian Lillard, he believes that confidence will help the team get through this grueling part of the schedule.
“It’s going to be big when you got to go out and get on another team’s floor,” Lillard said. “You might be tired on the road, you have to find a way to get it done. Being confident is a big part of being able to get it done.”
Even if they split the road trip, the Blazers would equal their total of 11 road wins last season.
They’ve been successful, but they also know that it’s been a product of their hard work. Nobody is giving them wins and this road trip won’t be any different.
“I think we go into games with a certain level of confidence,” said head coach Terry Stotts. “But at the same time, we realized that we’re playing hard and our success is because we’re playing hard. It’s not coming easy. Our record is what it is, but it’s not easy.”
