PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS

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Henry Abbott had this over at True Hoop, but Forbes.com has a list of how all 30 NBA teams are faring financially. And for Paul Allen and the Trail Blazers, there's a major upswing taking place:

Three teams experienced double-digit gains in value this year, led by the Portland Trail Blazers, whose value increased 21% to $307 million. Owner Paul Allen took control of the Rose Garden last year after he relinquished his stake in the arena during bankruptcy proceedings during 2004. The move gave Allen access to the arena's revenue streams, including luxury suites, concessions and ad signage.

The Associated PressLean back.

Leave your best caption below.

14-6. First place in the NW Division. Casey Holdahl wrote yesterday after the Blazers escaped from New York with a win, "They can't all be blowouts." That rang true once again last night as the Blazers rode on the back of Brandon Roy (12 fourth-quarter points) out of the nation's capital with yet another win, their sixth in a row. The win puts Portland 7-0 against the East heading into Friday's game against the Boston Celtics, the Blazers biggest game to date.

He and the Trail Blazers want Boston.

There are no more games to potentially overlook, no more film sessions to grind through, because after Wednesday's 98-92 win at Washington -- the Blazers' sixth in a row -- Friday's matchup in Boston against the World Champion Celtics has arrived.

WASHINGTON -- The Trail Blazers have become the pick-your-poison team of the NBA, with a variety of weapons at their disposal to tease opponents.

Want to take away Brandon Roy and his penetration?

Better worry about Steve Blake and his effective three-pointer.

The Blazers are riding a 5-game winning streak right now. 6-0 vs. the East. A win tonight would secure another winning roadie for Portland (with stops in Boston Friday, Toronto Sunday). As you know, the Blazers beat the Knicks last night with a huge fourth quarter surge. The Bullets Wizards (3-12) bashed the Nets on their home floor by 20.

The Washington Post's Wizards Insiders take a look at the competition:

Portland has gone 9-3 since Greg Oden returned from a foot injury in the season opener, but that is almost coincidental. It's not that the 2007 No. 1 pick Oden hasn't had an impact, he's just been a solid, relatively consistent role player, averaging 7.6 points and 7.6 rebounds in just over 21 minutes per game. He had just 2 points and 7 rebounds in 19 minutes against the Knicks.

But nobody is complaining because Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are playing well and Portland has another center that is playing pretty well (more on that later). It's still pretty amazing that only five of the 14 lottery picks from the 2006 NBA draft have amounted to anything thus far -- and the Blazers got two of them (Rudy Gay and to a lesser extent, Ronnie Brewer and Andrea Bargnani are the others).

Same time. Same place (Real Player required).

The Blazers are riding a 5-game win streak right now. That means 5 questions from each of you. Fire 'em below.

I got a call yesterday from an older gentleman. Lives on the coast. Gruff type. Has Dish Network. An abbreviated version of our conversation:

"Am I going to be able to see the Blazers game tonight?" he said.

"Nope," I said.

"Have a lousy day," he said.

Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian

He didn't have the Madison Square Garden debut he'd probably hoped for, but he was part of the Blazers win. And in a city where athletes moves are put under the microscope times 10 (see Stephon Marbury, Plaxico Burress), Oden's average (2 points, 7 rebounds) performance last night could have easily picked the No. 1 overall selection apart. Instead, the Big Apple media (correctly) put Oden in perspective.

The Times Joshua Robinson notes that Oden is part of the Blazers' foundation:

Oden returned to the Garden on Tuesday night, this time in a Portland Trail Blazers jersey and no longer an instant star. While other rookies like Derrick Rose and O. J. Mayo average close to 40 minutes a game, Oden has stayed in the low 20s. That is because the Blazers have other weapons and lower expectations.

The Associated PressBrandon Roy and Steve Blake combined for 38 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in last night's 104-97 win over the Knicks.

13-6. It didn't come easy. That first quarter was tough to watch. Portland couldn't buy a bucket. Fast forward to the fourth quarter and a huge 14-0 run and the Blazers took control of that game. The Blazers bench badly outscored that of the Knicks, 47-20. But to be fair, the Knicks bench is all of three players. And as expected, the Blazers killed the Knicks on the boards (54-36) and blocks (7-2).

Mary Altaffer/Associated PressPortland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden (52) dunks during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008, at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Trail Blazers defeated the Knicks 104-97.

"It wasn't pretty ... again," general manager Kevin Pritchard said with a sly grin as he left the postgame locker room.

The sly grin is a common sight around the Blazers these days. Everyone on the team knows they are not playing their best basketball, yet here they are, sporting a 13-6 record, which includes five wins in a row, the last two on the road.

Player of the game

Center Joel Przybilla led a fourth-quarter surge with two momentum-swinging blocks of dunk attempts, and he provided the go-ahead basket early in the fourth quarter. Przybilla finished with eight points, 14 rebounds and two blocks, even though the official scorer failed to credit him with a block of a dunk attempt by David Lee.

BB: The Blazers were in a rebuilding mode during the middle part of this decade and now the Knicks are enduring their own rebuilding years (dumping cap, banking on LeBron). Blazers fans know all too well life at the bottom, struggling to find wins while hoping for light at the end of the tunnel.

As a Knicks fan, are you able at all to look at how the Blazers have rebuilt and improved over the past few years and find some solace?