BOSTON – There’s a different level of confidence brewing in this Portland Trail Blazers’ locker room.
There’s a different belief. Guys feel like they can actually win every single game once they take the court.
Shooting guard Wesley Matthews reveals that wasn’t always the case with this team.
“We feel like we’re going to win every game when we play. That’s the mentality we’re supposed to have,” Matthews told CSNNW.com. “I felt like we could compete in games last year. We knew we were going to be in games, and for the most part we were. But this year we feel like we can actually win every game.”
After a convincing 109-96 win over the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on Friday, a place they haven’t won since March 31, 2004, Portland extended their winning streak to five games.
But it’s the way they’re doing it. They’re blowing teams out, winning close ones and grinding out ugly ones like what we saw against the Suns on Wednesday night. They seem to have an answer for everything thus far.
Sitting second in the Western Conference with a 7-2 record and first in the division, Portland has shocked some folks. The season is young and encouraging, yet the captain of the team demands that they stay the course and urges them not to get too excited with what they’ve been able to accomplish.
“I said after the game, ‘Let’s stay hungry,’” Aldridge told CSNNW.com after a game-high of 27 points and 12 rebounds, earning his fourth consecutive double-double. “A lot of young guys can get comfortable and feel like we’re there and we’re not. It’s up to me to let them know we have a long way to go.
“I don’t want to jump on this and start being too rah rah about what we’ve done. But when you win four or five in a row, people love you. Then you lose four or five in a row and they’re saying ‘let’s trade somebody.’ So I’m not allowing us to get too high or too low. We have to be right in the middle. We know we’re doing good things right now but there’s more to do.”
So if I get Aldridge’s drift, he’s not about celebrating right now. And rightfully so. There’s too much ball to be played. Yet still, seven wins in nine tries are impressive no matter how you slice it.
