Lillard is back in Portland and the Blazers are 7-3 — is this start actually real?
Dame dropped 25 points with 6 threes in his return game and Portland just routed the Suns 124-83, and now the Blazers are sitting at 7-3 despite a pile of injuries. The trade chatter from the summer said this team was years away, and the Bucks picks from the Lillard deal keep looking better every week. But seven-ish games is a tiny sample. Is this Blazers start actually real, or does the schedule get harder and the whole thing come back to earth by December?
1 answer
- Seven games is nothing — wait for the road stretch
The 25-point return game was real, and 7-3 is a great place to be in November. But seven games is a tiny sample — the test is whether the defense holds up over the next month of road games against winning teams. If Portland is still above .500 in mid-December, then it is real. Until then, enjoy it, do not bet on it.