Trail Blazers Make Noise in Power Rankings

Time to check the NBA power rankings to see how your Portland Trail Blazers fared after a 3-0 week.

Drew Garrison of SB Nation drops Portland out of the top-five this week while Adi Joseph of USA Today moves the Trail Blazers in.  The big gainers this week were Portland (except for Drew Garrison) and Houston while the big loser was Toronto, dropping as many as 9 spots.

Drew Garrison of SB Nation: 1) Golden State, 2) Atlanta, 3) Memphis, 4) Houston, & 5) Cleveland.

6.  Portland Trail Blazers (39-19, Last week: 5)

The Trail Blazers find their way out of the top five, but they'll have a chance to vault back into it soon with games against the Clippers, Mavericks and Rockets coming up over the next two weeks. It certainly didn't hurt that Arron Afflalo dropped 11 points in the fourth quarter against the Thunder as the Trail Blazers rallied for a win.

Matt Dollinger of Sports Illustrated: 1) Golden State, 2) Atlanta, 3) Memphis, 4) Houston, & 5)  Cleveland.

6   PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS   LAST WEEK: 11   RECORD: 39-19 (3-0)
Portland has struggled on the road this season, going 2-9 in its last 11 games away from the Moda Center. With nine of their next 13 games on the road-and just a one-game lead on the Clippers for the No. 4 seed-the Blazers will be put to the test this month. The good news is Portland is going into the gauntlet playing well, having won three straight, including victories over the Thunder and Spurs.

John Schuhmann of nba.com: 1) Golden State, 2) Atlanta, 3) Memphis, 4) Houston, & 5) Cleveland.

7.   Last week: 11   Portland (39-19)    Pace: 96.6 (13)   OffRtg: 104.9 (10)   DefRtg: 99.9 (6)   NetRtg: +5.0 (5)
Last season, the Thunder and Spurs led the league with 14 wins after trailing by at least 10 points. This season's Blazers (now 14-14 after trailing by 10-plus) matched that mark by coming back from 15 down against Oklahoma City on Friday. Portland has won three straight and Damian Lillard (13-for-33 since the break) is making 3-pointers again.  This week: @ LAC, vs. DAL, @ MIN

Mark Stein of ESPN: 1) Golden State, 2) Atlanta, 3) Memphis, 4) Houston, & 5) Cleveland.

7.  Portland   39-19   Last Week: 10   Do the Blazers actually want to see OKC in the playoffs? On top of wresting control of the Northwest Division from the injury-hit Thunder, Portland would appear to have the karma edge in this matchup now, having rallied from late 13-point deficits against the Thunder in the last two months.

Mark Spears of Yahoo.com: 1) Golden State, 2) Atlanta, 3) Houston, 4) Cleveland, & 5) Memphis.

6.  Portland Trail Blazers   (Record: 39-19; last week: 9):  The Blazers have the West's fourth-best record, but they've struggled on the road, going 2-9 since Jan. 14 and 14-13 overall.

Adi Joseph of USA Today: 1) Golden State, 2) Atlanta, 3) Memphis, 4) Houston, & 5) Portland.

5.  Portland Trail Blazers  39-19   Damian Lillard boosted his field goal percentage but shot only 26.3% on threes in February.