After returning from a disappointing 1-4 road trip, the Portland Trail Blazers have recently made incremental improvements on the defensive side of the ball thanks to a light schedule that allowed for more practice time and a reviewed focus on getting back to the basics. While they still have a ways to in order to be an average defensive team from a statistical perspective, they have won three of their last four games during an extended homestand, with those three wins coming by an average of 13.6 points.
And as they embark on another five-game trip, they’re likely to get another boost defensively with the imminent return of forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who has been upgraded to probable for Monday night’s game versus the Bulls in Chicago after missing the last 13 games with a strained left calf.