Matt Moore of CBSSports.com gives the Portland Trail Blazers a "B" for their first half of the season.

Portland Trail Blazers
Grade: B

This team pulled off some heavy magic in the first half of the season. They managed to convince the Portland faithful that they would perform at a playoff-level, despite the huge number of close games they won early. Analysts suggested this would not hold. It hasn't. The team has slid back, but really, you can't do anything but tip your hat to Terry Stotts and the four good players they have on roster relative to minutes distribution (I'll let you figure out who). Damian Lillard is a phenom and the future's bright. Now it's time to settle back to where their roster and results indicate they're headed.

I doled out midseason NBA grades this week and settled on a "B" for the Blazers as well.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter