"Are the Trail Blazers a really good team? On Friday, they certainly played the part of one, absolutely crushing the Phoenix Suns 109-71.

Yes, the same Suns team that beat Portland by 25 points exactly three weeks before in Phoenix.

The difference Friday was that the game was played in the Rose Garden, where the Blazers improved to 9-1, tying Chicago for the second-best home record in the league, behind only San Antonio (10-1).

The Blazers, though, are still 12-8 overall thanks to a 3-7 road record. The Western Conference, for some reason, is littered with teams that have winning records despite having horrible road records, including the Blazers, Spurs (12-8 overall, 2-7 on the road), Clippers (10-6, 1-4) and Lakers (11-8, 1-6).

Not sure if players on those teams would consider their teams good, but at least one Blazer says his team has too much to prove away from Portland to fall into that category yet.

"To be a really good team, to be an elite team in the NBA, you've got to win on the road," Portland guard Jamal Crawford said.

The Blazers know they have not been good on the road, where they got arguably their best win of the season, a 103-93 win at Oklahoma City against a Thunder team that has the league's best record.

Since then, however, the Blazers have thrown up some real road stinkers, including the blowout loss at Phoenix, a 2-4 road trip and Wednesday's loss at Golden State."