Despite opening the season with a three-game road trip, the Portland Trail Blazers got their 2017-18 season off to a nice start by going 2-1. After beating the Phoenix Suns 124-76 in the largest season-opening victory in NBA history and then besting the Indiana Pacers 114-96, Portland tasted defeat for the first time this season thanks to a career night from Giannis Antetokounmpo listed the Bucks to a 113-110 victory that wasn't decided until the final seconds of the game. So while it wasn't as good as it could have been, their first three games still constituted a quality start to Portland's 2017-18 campaign.
Though that start didn't result in much movement in the weekly Power Rankings, though that not entirely unexpected. Their 48-point victoy versus the Suns was tarnished a bit after they lost by 42 points a few days later to the Clippers, leading to head coach Earl Watson being sacked three games into the season, and their victory versus the Pacers came the Myles Turner, Indiana's best player, sidelined with a concussion. Combine that with losing to the Bucks and you have a situation where a lot of the Power Rankers are still taking a "wait and see" approach to the 2017-18 Trail Blazers, which is probably fair.
But with 10 of their next 11 games at the Moda Center, the Trail Blazers will have plenty of opportunities to stack some wins at home while moving up the rankings. If they're able to get their first homestand of the season off to a similar start as their first road trip, the Trail Blazers could see a significant improvements in their rankings, but until then, here's where they ended up this week...
• The panel at ESPN.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 12 this week, two spots better than last week...
ESPN has the Trail Blazers behind the Jazz at No. 11 and ahead of the Nuggets at No. 13.
• John Schuhmann at NBA.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 13 this week, unchanged from last week...
Schuhmann has the Trail Blazers behind the Bucks at No. 12 and ahead of the Celtics at No. 14.
• David Aldridge, also for NBA.com, has the Trail Blazers at No. 14 this week, unchanged from their initial ranking last week...
Aldridge has the Trail Blazers behind the Timberwolves at No. 13 and ahead of the Pistons at No. 15.
• Kenny Ducey at SI.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 13 this week, one spot better than last week...
Ducey has the Trail Blazers behind the Grizzlies at No. 12 and ahead of the Pelicans at No. 14.
• Chris Manning at Fansided has the Trail Blazers at No. 10 this week...
Manning has the Trail Blazers behind the Thunder at No. 9 and ahead of the Grizzlies at No. 11.
• Jonas Nader at RotoWorld has the Trail Blazers at No. 12 this week...
Nader has the Trail Blazers behind the Jazz at No. 11 and ahead of the Grizzlies at No. 13.
• Kurt Helin of NBCSports.com, in rankings posted on October 17, has the Trail Blazers at No. 13...
Helin has the Trail Blazers behind the Clippers at No. 12 and ahead of the Grizzlies at No. 14.
• Grant Hughes at Bleacher Report, in rankings posted on October 17, has the Trail Blazers at No. 14...
Hughes has the Trail Blazers behind the Clippers at No. 13 and ahead of the Heat at No. 15.
• Brad Rowland at UPROXX, in rankings posted on October 17, has the Trail Blazers at No. 15...
Rowland has the Trail Blazers behind the Clippers at No. 14 and ahead of the Heat at No. 16.