A 31-9 record and first place in the Western Conference.
Tied for the most road wins in the NBA led by an offense that is the envy of the rest of the league.
However unimaginable this seemed in October to outsiders no longer matters anymore.
The Portland Trail Blazers are here. Now as they stand at the midway point of the season, they still haven’t changed their goals quite yet.
“They always stay the same,” said Nicolas Batum when asked if the Blazers were going to recalibrate their goals as they approach the halfway mark. “We don’t go crazy. March is going to be pretty big, too, but we’ll see.”
In the middle of one of their tougher road trips, the Blazers have already assured themselves of a split by winning at San Antonio and Dallas.
So far, as they have done throughout the first 40 games, they have passed every test that has been presented to them.
No NBA team is invincible and the Blazers certainly haven’t been, but they’ve continued to add numbers into the “W” column.
“M-V-P, M-V-P”
In Portland’s Dec. 4 win against Oklahoma City, LaMarcus Aldridge was showered with the chants of “M-V-P” at the Moda Center for the first time this season.
In that win, Aldridge scored 38 points and had 13 rebounds and was just one of several MVP-worthy performances by the big man who’s averaging career-highs in points, rebounds and assists.
Aldridge has gone from nearly leaving the Trail Blazers to talking publicly about re-signing with the team (he has one more year after this on his contract), and he continues to rise in the record books of the franchise.
His midrange game helps keep defenses honest and his post-up game has been the league’s most dominant.
The last few seasons at this time have been surrounded with the question of whether Aldridge would be selected for the All-Star Game, but that question is pointless now.
The question now is: How high in the MVP voting will he finish?
How about an encore?
What was next for Damian Lillard after unanimously winning Rookie of the Year?
Lillard has had three game-winners this season and is the fourth leading scorer in the NBA in the clutch.
Out of the top-15 “clutch” scorers, games within five points in the last five minutes, only LeBron James is shooting better from the field and nobody — not even Golden State’s Stephen Curry — has been better shooting threes.
Lillard is not alone, though. The Blazers are the only team in the NBA with four players (Aldridge, Batum, Wesley Matthews) in the top-30 in clutch scoring.
What’s next?
The Blazers wil not publicly adjust their expectations just yet.
“It’s a long season,” is a cliche, but it’s also true. The Blazers have been adamant that they have done nothing yet.
They have shown progress on the defensive end, thanks to Robin Lopez and coach Terry Stotts’ overhaul of the system.
They still are not defending at a league-average level, but it’s a far cry from last season when they changed their defensive approach and scheme every game.
Their bill of good health, outside of C.J. McCollum, has also been key.
The winners are few in the NBA. The rest of the league is stuck trying to become somebody and teams often get lost answering the question, “Who are we?”
The Blazers have known since the preseason who they are and felt not only that every game could be theirs, but that it should be.
As they cross the halfway mark on Monday, it is evident that they have won the important battle of achieving self-determination as they sit on top of the Western Conference.
