Portland Trail Blazers Quarterly Report: It’s Good, Real Good

Another night, another win in the books for the Portland Trail Blazers. Monday night’s win over the Utah Jazz — their second in as many days — marked the 18th win of the season already for the Blazers. Keep in mind they have only played 22 games, guys. They’re pretty good and they aren’t going to leave the limelight anytime soon.

Nov 20, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Portland Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts reacts to a call during the first quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Rip City followed Luda’s advice and has that No. 1 spot after the first quarter (roughly) of the NBA season. Ahead of the Spurs, Thunder, Rockets and Clippers — all of which had substantially more hype coming into the season, and rightfully so. This team has really come out of nowhere to be the dark horse out West; Stotts has em’ playing the perfect brand of basketball for his personnel.

Here are some key stats from the first quarter (NBA Rank):

Points Per Game: 106.2 (2nd)
Offensive Rating: 112.7 (1st)
Field Goal %: 45.7 (10th)
3-Point %: 41.8 (2nd)
Free Throw %: 81.1 (2nd)
Point Differential: 6.05 (5th)

Terry Stotts seems to be pulling all the right strings so far and has to be in the running for Coach of the Year. Here are some other stats and ranks for the Blazers: overall rebounding (third), assists (fourth), turnovers (14th), steals (29th) and they are also fourth in the NBA in attendance right around 19,275 people per game at the Moda Center.

Let’s take a look at some of their early grades…