The Blazers currently hold the league best 6 win streak, the last four in five days on the road. This is an accomplishment no matter which way you spin it. The concern is that every one of these teams were either just plain bad, old, tired, broken, or a combination of the four. Not only that, but most of these games were much closer then they should have been, especially in the first quarter. So the win streak must be a fluke right?

I've had much of the same worries until I read prof.mike's comment in Rope-a-dope: "They have only been doing enough to win. Monday let's see how much better they play with better competition." I remembered then that this team has an unfortunate tendency to play to the level of their competion.

I can hear the gears turning from here... "But a veteran team would have put these teams in their place!" The thing is... they did. Maybe not emphatically, they may have stumbled but they finished. Last year they had difficulties finishing against teams that that they should have been able to beat, the Bobcats for example. The fact that they beat them this year on the wrong end of a very long road trip while struggling to find their roles and their stroke is impressive.

This may not be the leap out of the gate that everyone expected, but it is a sign of evolving into an elite team.