We are almost a month into the season and much is the same across the NBA landscape.
San Antonio, looking to avenge a heart-breaking loss in the NBA Finals,are 13-1 and have an outstanding 12.1 average point differential.
Indiana, only a game away from beating the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, are 13-1 and are giving up a league-leading 87.4 points per game.
Miami have ridden an indifferent start and injury interruptions but are gaining momentum and have a seven-game winning streak to thank for being 11-3.
And the perceived Western Conference dominance is demonstrated by the fact the 12th seed Phoenix Suns, at 7-7, would be sitting fourth in the woefully shallow Eastern Conference rankings.
But without a doubt the surprise of the season is the Portland Trailblazers, who are on an 11-game winning streak and at 13-2 sit just half a game behind the Spurs and Pacers in the race for the league’s best record.
While it would take a brave fan (or one-eyed Oregonian) to predict that the Blazers will remain in such esteemed company, and while some might point to the weakness of their schedule so far (only two of the teams they have defeated on their winning streak have a record over .500) there is no doubting that they are a far better team than the NBA world thought they would be.
Their road record is a league-best 7-1, and a good road record is always a sign of a good basketball team.
Portland’s success begins at power forward with the most underrated player in basketball, LaMarcus Aldridge.
Aldridge is averaging 22 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, up on career averages of 18.3 and 7.8.
When talking Western Conference power forwards, Aldridge is the substance to Blake Griffin’s style.
Casual basketball fans wouldn’t recognise Aldridge, but he delivers a double-double every night to a team that is winning.
Portland rely on Aldridge and take comfort from the fact that he is a consistent star, despite his low profile.
Damian Lillard was a revelation last season, winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award as he averaged 19.0 points and 6.5 assists while playing all 82 games.
Lillard is fast becoming an elite NBA point guard and is putting up 20.2 points, 6.4 assists and 4.1 rebounds a game.
While he is only shooting .396 from the field, this seems to be Lillard’s only weakness as he forms a deadly one-two punch with Aldridge.
At small forward, Nicolas Batum has polarised fans with his inconsistent play and enraged the entire country of Spain after punching guard Juan Carlos Navarro in the groin as France were losing their 2012 Olympic quarter-final.
However this season Batum has started in fine style and produced 14.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists a game, up on career numbers in those categories.
Blazer fans will be watching closely and hoping things stay on course as the volatile Frenchman is a key cog to this Portland machine.
Acquired via trade over the off-season, Robin Lopez has replaced J.J.Hickson in the middle and provided solid numbers at 8.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game.
Lopez has more than doubled his career rebound average and while the sample size is small, he has fast become a crucial member of a seemingly legitimate contender.
With limited big man backup, the Blazers will be hoping that Lopez can continue to anchor the team.
The biggest surprise on the league’s most surprising team has without doubt been Wesley Matthews, who has had one of the most impressive starts to the season in the league.
Averaging 13 points a game throughout his career, Matthews is scoring 17.3 PPG this season and shooting .556 from the field, including an outrageous .506 from the three-point line.
Matthews is also extremely efficient with the ball in his hand, only turning it over 1.3 times in almost 35 minutes a game.
Many starting fives get more publicity, but there is none better in the NBA than the one Portland are putting out.
And while depth off the bench seems a little thin (a point supported by the fact that all five starters are playing more than 30 minutes a game), the Blazers will continue to turn to Mo Williams, Dorell Wright and Thomas Robinson to provide them with a solid 8-man rotation which provides flexibility and the ability to go big and small, depending on the opposition.
Their coach Terry Stotts complied an underwhelming 33-49 record last season, but is well on the way to improving a mediocre .424 career winning percentage as he steers this ship towards an unlikely playoff performance.
And statistically the Blazers are proving to be consistent across many categories, averaging 103.9 PPG (7th in the league), conceding 97.6 (10th), with a points differential of +6.3 (4th) and also ranking top 10 in assists (9th at 22.9), turnovers (5th at 14.4) and total rebounds (8th at 44.8).
We will learn plenty about the Blazers as they play Indiana, Oklahoma City (twice), the Clippers, Miami and Minnesota in December.
If their record stands up come the end of 2013, we might all need to admit what seems obvious this early in the season – this is just a damn good basketball team.
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