POWER RANKINGS » LITTLE CHANGE TO RANKINGS AFTER ROLLER-COASTER WEEK 3 →

An up and down few weeks has the Trail Blazers roughly where they started the season in the power rankings. They're holding down the middle of the pack, coming in no lower than 17th and no higher than 13th. Portland is the only .500 or below team in the league with a positive point differential thanks to wins by 29, 20, and 19 points over Phoenix, Memphis, and Los Angeles respectively. Unfortunately, after a close opening night loss to the Kings -- that seemed like an anomaly with Harrison Barnes going 8-11 from three, while Dame was 0-9 -- the Blazers have lost three games by 10 or more points as well. Dame’s shooting woes have continued with good looks seemingly just not going through the basket. Dame has been candid about not seeing his shot go down. “I always look at struggles as an opportunity to show my true character,” Lillard said after Monday’s game. “The real ones, they can keep on trucking and keep on going and still find a way to get the job done.”

Coach Chauncey Billups has emphasized “throwing the first punch” on both sides of the ball this season. This team looks different when they are attacking first and defensive rotations are clicking, as characterized by the two-game home stretch against the Clippers and Grizzlies, where the Blazers held their opponents under 100 points on less than 40% shooting; a feat accomplished only three times all of last season. If the Trail Blazers can maintain this identity on the defensive end and Lillard starts to see his shot go down there’s no reason to believe this team won’t start to trend in the right direction.

Here’s where the Trail Blazers sit in the third edition of the weekly power rankings after a turbulent opening slate of games.

The Blazers are moving and moving the ball a lot more under Chauncey Billups. For four straight seasons, they were in the bottom five in both ball and player movement, according to Second Spectrum tracking, ranking 30th and 29th last season. This season, they’re 19th and ninth, having seen the league’s second biggest jump in both. Damian Lillard hasn’t found his shot yet (after an efficient night against the Clippers, he was 5-for-20 in Charlotte on Sunday), but his team still ranks sixth offensively. Anfernee Simons (13.7 points per game on an effective field goal percentage of 62.7%) might finally be turning into the player the Blazers have been projecting him to be for the last three seasons, and he gave them a big lift in an impressive win over the Grizzlies on Wednesday.

After holding two straight opponents under a point per possession (something they never did in consecutive games last season), the Blazers got torched in Charlotte. The Hornets hit 20 3-pointers, with 16 of the 20 being catch-and-shoot attempts. And after that output from the league’s second-ranked offense, the Blazers will play the second game of their Sunday-Monday back-to-back against the team that ranks first

Schuhmann has the Trail Blazers behind the Hawks at No. 14 and ahead of the Grizzlies at No. 16.

The Blazers continue to search for a rhythm under new coach Chauncey Billups. After starting the week with a 30-point loss to the Clippers, the Blazers rebounded by beating Memphis by 20 and routing the Clippers by 19. But then they lost by 12 to the Hornets on Sunday to open a three-game road trip. Damian Lillard has yet to explode this season, but CJ McCollum has been steady, leading the team in scoring in five of its six games this season.

The folks at ESPN have the Trail Blazers behind the Grizzlies at No. 16 and ahead of the Raptors at No. 18.

The Portland Trail Blazers are still waiting for Damian Lillard to find his normal, superstar form, but there isn’t any reason to carry concern over whether or not that will happen. It’s going to happen. But even when that’s the case, the role of Jusuf Nurkic appears to be the difference between the Blazers looking like they can win a bunch of games and Portland looking like it’ll be in a lot of coin flip scenarios. Chauncey Billups has to harness the presence of Nurkic more than anybody else. Nurkic, fully engaged and active, is the difference between this team being good defensively and it falling apart. He’s mobile and massive. That’s a combination that can keep things stitched together on that end of the floor. To keep him engaged, it might require more chances on offense to keep him rolling with the right momentum. But he’s also skilled on that end, so the juice is worth the squeeze there.

Harper has the Trail Blazers behind the Hornets at No. 14 and ahead of the Wizards at No. 16.

An early pairing to keep an eye on: The Damian Lillard–Larry Nance Jr. duo has a 16.3 net rating in 58 minutes this season, with elite efficiency on both ends of the floor. Lance makes a lot of sense as a big playing off Lillard, and he may deserve a chance to play with the rest of the starters.

Nadkarni has the Trail Blazers behind the Lakers at No. 14 and ahead of the Raptors at No. 16.

What we've learned: Don't let a few bad games generate any irrational thoughts on Damian Lillard. He's averaging a career-low in scoring to go with the worst shooting percentages of his career, but it has only been six games. The Trail Blazers are holding it down thanks to a hot start from CJ McCollum, so there's no reason to worry about the six-time All-Star who averages 24.6 points on 37.4 percent from 3-point range over his nine-year career.

Irving has the Trail Blazers behind the Mavericks at No. 12 and ahead of the 76ers at No. 14.