The NBA announced Monday morning that Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for Week 14 after averaging 29.3 points on 53 percent shooting from the field, 52 percent shooting from three and 100 percent shooting from the free throw line, 5.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists in three games last week. Portland won all three of those contests, which surely went a long way toward the 6-3 point guard out of Weber State collecting the fourth Player of the Week honor of his career.That 3-0 record also helped the Trail Blazers move up in most of the power rankings this week, though that wasn't the case across the board, and considering how inconsistent they've been all season, it's hard to argue too much with those who weren't especially impressed with their performance last week. If Portland is able to extend their current win streak -- they've yet to win more than three games in a row this season -- perhaps they'll see some real movement in the rankings come next week. But until that happens, they're going to remain somewhere in the middle of the pack.Onto this week's rankings...• The panel of voters at ESPN has the Trail Blazers at No. 10 this week, one spot better than last week...
We shall see, though winning Western Conference Player of the Week honors as the coaches are filling out their reserve ballots certainly couldn't hurt his cause.ESPN has the Trail Blazers behind the Heat at No. 9 and ahead of the Wizards at No. 11.• John Schuhmann of NBA.com has the Trail Blazers at lucky No. 13 this week, four spots better than last week, which was the biggest jump for any team in his rankings...
Schuhmann has the Trail Blazers behind the Pelicans at No. 12 and ahead of the Pacers at No. 14.• David Aldridge, also of NBA.com, has the Trail Blazers just making it into his rankings this week at No. 15 after being unranked last week (Aldridge only ranks the Top 15 teams) ...
Six straight now after Saturday's win versus the Mavericks at the Moda. Aldridge has the Trail Blazers behind the Pacers, a team Portland swept this season, at No. 14.• The panel of voters at USA Today has the Trail Blazers at No. 11 this week, seven spots better than last week..
Interesting note there. Portland should have a decent chance to break that habit Monday night versus the Nuggets, a team that has lost their last two games and six of their last eight.
The folks at USA Today have the Trail Blazers behind the Cavaliers at No. 10 and ahead of the Pacers at No. 12.• Chris Barnewall of CBSSports.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 14 this week, two spots worse than last week despite going 3-0...
This probably won't come as a surprise to anyone who follows the Blazers closely, but while they could get under the luxury tax this season, the prospect of getting under the salary cap, let alone far enough under to have real money to offer free agents this summer, is incredibly unlikely.
Barnewall has the Trail Blazers behind the Wizards at No. 13 and ahead of the Bucks at No. 15.• Marc Stein of The New York Times ranked teams at the midseason point with the Trail Blazers coming in at No. 13...
Stein has the Trail Blazers behind the Nuggets at No. 12 and ahead of the Pacers at No. 14.• Kenny Ducey at SI.com, in rankings posted on January 15, has the Trail Blazers at No. 12, one spot better than last week.• Tommy Beer of Rotoworld has the Trail Blazers at No. 11 this week...
Beer has the Trail Blazers behind the Wizards at No. 10 and ahead of the 76ers at No. 12.