Remember when finishing the calendar year with a winning record seemed like a responsible prediction for the Portland Trail Blazers? After all, the team was burdened with the toughest schedule in the NBA (that is true), were too young and inexperienced to hold their own against the NBA elite (true, again), and we all knew it would take some time before Greg Oden came into his own (that is definitely true).

And yet here we are in early December and the Blazers are in first place, have won six games in a row, and posess one of the best records in the game--a stat that is even more impressive when you consider that the team, which is undefeated at the Rose Garden, is tied for the least amount of games played at home (seven, while teams like Boston have nearly twice as many).

But if the Blazers want to claim their place as NBA royalty, tonight would be a good place to start, as Portland visits the legendary parquet floor of the Boston Celtics. Last year's dominating NBA champions, the Celtics are the type of team--very experienced, tough as nails, and full of hate towards wide-eyed, optimistic upstart basketball teams--that wants to destroy Portland. There isn't a long historic rivalry between the two franchises--although their star, Kevin Garnett, doesn't think too fondly of our Vanilla Gorilla, Joel Przybilla--but tonight would be a good night for Portland to make a statement. A big fat statement. Even if they lose, for Portland to keep this game competitive will be a small victory. And if they win... oh man, that just might change everything.

The Blazers face the Celtics tonight at 5pm. It's on ESPN (and KGW), so thankfully you don't have to deal with the horrors of trying to find someone with Comcast's CSN network.