Portland Trail Blazers: 3 takeaways from 7-game road trip

The Portland Trail Blazers finished their seven-game road trip 5-2. What are some things we can glean from their extended journey?

It has been a long road for the Portland Trail Blazers, but they are finally coming home. A 120-111 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night put a damper on what was otherwise a successful seven-game road trip.

Portland went 5-2 on the trip, winning the first four games before finishing 1-2. Some of the wins included blowing out the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers in a Saturday matinee and clawing out a victory over the Boston Celtics.

However, the Blazers also suffered two stinging losses. The first one was a two-point defeat at the hands of the Toronto Raptors, decided by Kawhi Leonard‘s game-winning baseline jumper. In the second loss, Mike Conley went on a 19-point rampage in the fourth quarter, helping the Grizzlies outscore the Blazers 38-20 in the final frame.

Portland is now 39-25 on the season. That’s one more win than they had through 64 games last season, and the most over that span since 2014-15. With the Oklahoma City Thunder awaiting them Thursday at Moda Center, what are some things we can take away from the Trail Blazers’ extensive road trip?