Over the past 15 games, the Portland Trail Blazers are a top 10 defensive team in the league. Over the past 10 games, that defensive rating is up to No. 7. For a team that has good individual defensive players like the Blazers do, the season-long defensive output has been slightly disappointing (No. 18 in the league), and the recent uptick in defensive results is encouraging.
With the offense being ranked No. 24 in the past 15 games, that defensive effort has been necessary, too. With Shaedon Sharpe being sidelined (and Deni Avdija missing games in that stretch), the team is lacking some scoring punch. Even when everyone's healthy, there's a clear ceiling on this squad's offensive output, mostly due to a dearth of 3-point shooting.
Thus, being an elite defensive team is clearly the best way to maximize the personnel these Blazers have. Toumani Camara is already a phenomenal perimeter defender, Donovan Clingan is a deterent in the paint, Jrue Holiday has been a good guard defender for years, Matisse Thybulle being healthy is a huge boon, Scoot Henderson has taken some strides on that end, etc.
Blazers defense is coming together at the right time
This is who fans wanted the Blazers to be. It took longer than anticipated, but Tiago Splitter's team finally looks like a well above average defensive unit. They're not the OKC Thunder by any means, and there are still nights when opponents are dictating the pace of the game and the shots they get. But I feel more confident on a nightly basis that the Blazers will at least look passable on the defensive end.
I think it's safe to say this season for the Blazers has been about what fans expected it to be. Competing for a play-in spot, development from the young guys, staying competitive most nights and beating bad teams.
After last night's win, the Blazers leapfrogged the Warriors for No. 9 in the Western Conference. That's enough to make fans happy. Potentially finishing off the season by finding out who they really are as a unit and what makes them so successful would be icing on the cake. A clutch time offensive rating of 86 over the past 15 games is a tad concerning, but two steps forward and one step back still eventually leads you in the right direction.