Portland's six-game road trip continued in week four with trips to Miami on Nov. 7, then a back-to-back first to Charlotte then to New Orleans on Nov. 9-10, and ending in Dallas on Nov. 12, finishing week four 3-1.
The Trail Blazers started the week in Miami. The Heat and Blazers met earlier in the season in Portland resulting in a 119-98 victory for the Heat on Oct. 26. The Blazers season so far has been full of exciting finishes and Monday's game was no different. After a game-tying three from Miami's Max Strus, Damian Lillard found Josh Hart in the corner draining the buzzer beater three resulting in a dramatic 110-107 win and a memorable post-game interview.
The Blazers then traveled to Charlotte for the front half of a back-to-back. In a full team victory where every Blazer that played scored, Portland came out with the win by a score of 105-95.
Portland then traveled to New Orleans to face former Blazer CJ McCollum in the second half of the back-to-back. Without starters Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic, the Blazers were able to come out victorious 106-95 on the back of 20-point performances from both Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons.
The Blazers ended the week and the road trip with a matchup with the Mavs. A down to the wire game came down to the final minutes when Dallas got the hot hand. After drilling four from behind the arc, the Mavericks were able to pull away leading to a 117-112 win for Dallas.
Four weeks into the season, Portland holds a record of 9-4. Looking forward to week five, the Trail Blazers return home starting Tuesday with the Spurs, followed by the Nets on Thursday, and rounding out with the Jazz on Saturday all at the Moda Center.
John Schuhmann at NBA.com has the Trail Blazers at No. 3, three spots up from last week.
"The Blazers have trailed 10 of their 14 games by double-digits, and they’re 6-4 in those 10 games. (No other team has more than four wins after trailing by double-digits.) They were down 15 in the third quarter in Miami on Monday, down 12 in the third in Charlotte on Wednesday, and down 10 in the second quarter in New Orleans on Thursday. They came back to win all three of those games, despite the absences of two starters in both ends of the Wednesday-Thursday back-to-back.
For the season, the Blazers have been the league’s fifth worst first-half team (minus-5.8 points per 100 possessions) and its second best second-half team (plus-9.4 per 100). The bigger difference (8.1 per 100) has been on offense, with both Josh Hart (35.9%, 54.0%) and Justise Winslow (27.6%, 60.0%) seeing big jumps in their effective field goal percentage from the first half to the second half. Winslow-at-center minutes were critical in Miami on Monday, when Hart drained the game-winning 3 at the buzzer. The Blazers have five of the 48 players who’ve made shots to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the fourth quarter or overtime, with Jerami Grant leading the league with four such buckets.
Grant had 37 points in Dallas on Saturday and the Blazers erased another double-digit deficit (they were down 16 in the second quarter). But a late, three-point lead quickly turned into a seven-point deficit when the Mavs made 3s on four straight possessions.
That was the end of the Blazers’ first six-game road trip (they have three) this season. They have a three-game homestand this week, and they’ll have a rest advantage against both San Antonio (on Tuesday) and Utah (on Saturday)."
Schuhmann has the Trail Blazers behind the Bucks at No. 2 and ahead of the Nuggets at No. 4.
Zach Harper at The Athletic has the Trail Blazers at No. 7, three spots up from last week.
"The Blazers have been one of the better stories to start the season after the way they let things fall apart last year. A lot of their success has happened without Lillard on the floor. Anfernee Simons has been brilliant. Jerami Grant has been an incredible pickup. And the team is just jelling in a very encouraging way. They’ve had one of the tougher schedules in the league, and they’ve thrived despite Lillard missing a handful of games."
Harper has the Trail Blazers behind the Grizzlies at No.6 and ahead of the Jazz at No. 8.
Enzo Flojo from Clutch Points has the Trail Blazers at No. 4, four spots up from last week.
"The Blazers were riding high on a three-game win streak before losing a close one in Dallas. Anfernee Simons and Jerami Grant continue to impress for this overachieving team, while of course, it was great to see Dame Dolla back on the floor. No more injuries, please."
Flojo has the Trail Blazers behind the Nuggets at No. 3 and ahead of the Jazz at No. 5.
Andy Bailey from Bleacher Report has the Trail Blazers at No. 10 (as of Nov. 11), two spots up from last week.
"The Portland Trail Blazers floundering in games without Damian Lillard wouldn't have been surprising, but after Thursday's road win over the New Orleans Pelicans, they're now 3-2 when Lillard is out of the lineup.
The remade supporting cast (which started coming together when the Blazers traded CJ McCollum last season) has earned the credit.
Jerami Grant is averaging 19.2 points and shooting 44.4 percent from three. And he's vacillating effortlessly from role player when Lillard is available to more of a lead dog when he's out.
On Thursday, he looked like a star on the way to 27 points, four steals, four threes and four assists.
But he's not alone. Josh Hart (acquired as part of the McCollum deal) is averaging a rarely seen stat line for a wing with 9.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Anfernee Simons is growing into his new role as the No. 2 option with 22.1 points. And rookie Shaedon Sharpe is averaging 9.4 points in 21.0 minutes and showing flashes of star upside.
Portland will still need Lillard healthy and playing like a star to keep up this winning pace all season, but his teammates are demonstrating early on that they're ready and willing to alleviate some of his responsibility."
Bailey has the Trail Blazers behind the Hawks at No. 9 and ahead of the Mavericks at No. 11.
Colin Ward-Henninger from CBS Sports has the Trail Blazers at No. 4, two spots up from last week.
"The Blazers are one of the most exciting teams in the league right now, having picked up four more wins this week with their only loss coming in the second half of a baseball-style two-game series in Phoenix. Two of those wins, over quality opponents in the Suns and Pelicans, came without Damian Lillard. It helps that Jerami Grant caught fire, averaging 23.5 points on 55 percent 3-point shooting and hitting the game-winner in the first Phoenix game (forget about that pesky last two minute report). This is just a cohesive unit that's just finding ways to win games, no matter who's on the floor. Credit to Chauncey Billups, and to the players for buying in."
Ward-Henninger has the Trail Blazers behind the Bucks at No. 3 and ahead of the Hawks at No. 5