Portland Trail Bloggers

The Blazers pulled off another close home win on Saturday night. The record now stands at 3 - 3. We are 3 - 0 in the Rose Garden and 0 - 3 on the road. On November 9th, 2007, the Blazers were 3 - 3, also with a 3 - 0 home and 0 - 3 away record. Also on November 9th, 2007, the Blazers were on a two game home winning streak.

So, we are essentially even with where we were last season, looking down our first long road trip of the season. Last season, the Blazers went 0 - 4 on the first true extended road trip in November. As we look down a five game road trip, I can only hope for going 2 - 3, then pulling back to 500 against the Bulls on November 19th. The key to this season is simple: win road games. Last season the Blazers only won 13 road games, the first win not coming until December 3rd against Memphis. I look for Oden’s post All Star break as being a key to winning games on the road. There were four stretches last season where the Blazers lost 5 or more games (home and away) in a row. Having a solid defensive presence (Oden) should help avoid those long losing streaks. Of course, last season was also the season of a 13 game win streak, which helped the Blazers end 41 - 41.

If you compare where the Blazers are on November 9, 2008 and where they were on November 9, 2007, you can see that we are in a prime position (considering the schedule) to improve on last seasons record. Win a road game in November and you are way ahead of schedule.