Portland Built the NBA's Hottest Start Around Ja Morant. Now It Has to Prove It Didn't

Five games into the 2026-27 season, the Portland Trail Blazers own a 4-1 record, a plus-11.4 point differential, and a 120.6 points-per-game average that has made them the league's most pleasant early surprise. Then Friday happened: a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Ja Morant, the centerpiece of the offseason trade with Memphis, sidelined for at least four weeks.

That is the story of the week in Portland, and it is the one that will define whether this start was real.

The numbers were legitimately loud

The Blazers opened by bludgeoning Phoenix 124-83, then won at Sacramento 128-120 and at the Lakers 136-129 before a 124-103 home loss to Memphis. Their 120.6 points per game dwarfs Denver's 114.0 and their 109.2 allowed is nearly six points stingier than the Nuggets. Per The Athletic, Portland had been running the NBA's best offense — a guard-heavy attack built on Morant and Damian Lillard creating downhill pressure.

Morant's own line was modest but functional: 14 points and eight assists in 23 minutes against Phoenix, 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting in the Lakers win, then 14 points in 23 minutes in the Memphis loss where the hamstring gave out. His fourth game with his new team. That's the cruel part — the trade was just beginning to look like the heist Portland's local coverage claimed.

The schedule is not sympathetic

Portland's next month is a gauntlet: at Denver on Monday, at Phoenix, at the Lakers, home against San Antonio, then a two-game home set against Oklahoma City. The Nuggets are 3-2 and average 26.8 assists per game. Oklahoma City sits 4-2. This is the worst possible window to lose a primary ball-handler.

There's also a caution flag buried in the underlying data. Portland's SRS-style power rating of plus-5.3 points above average ranks ninth — a huge jump from last season's minus-0.13 — but it was built against a schedule roughly seven points softer than average. The hot start deserves skepticism until the competition stiffens, and the competition is about to stiffen considerably.

Deni Avdija becomes the answer, by default

Avdija has quietly been Portland's most consistent producer: 18, 26, 23, 24 and 24 points across five games, including a 24-point, nine-rebound, seven-assist line against Memphis and a 10-of-13 free-throw night in the Halloween win at Utah. He's already functioning as a secondary creator. The reporting out of Rip City Project is direct about what comes next — the Blazers need "Point Deni" back, running offense through the forward rather than hunting replacement guard minutes.

Jrue Holiday is the other stabilizing piece, and the decision to keep him this offseason now looks prescient. He put up 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the Lakers win and added 14 in the Utah rout.

The Henderson question is the real subplot

Scoot Henderson, in a contract year, has been handed the largest opportunity of his career and has not grabbed it. His game log reads: 15 points on 14 shots opening night, then 4, 2, 9 and 14 points. He went 0-of-3 with five turnovers in 17 minutes against the Lakers. He's also been on the injury report with left ankle soreness.

Shaedon Sharpe's absence during the 3-0 start already generated "odd man out" chatter about a guard logjam. Morant's injury temporarily quiets that — but only temporarily. If Henderson flounders while Avdija and Holiday absorb the load, the roster questions get louder, not softer.

What four weeks actually measures

Portland doesn't need to be the team that started 4-1 without Morant. It needs to be .500-ish and stay connected to the Western Conference pack, which currently has Memphis at 6-0 and Houston at 6-1 at the top and a soft middle behind them. Lillard's efficiency is the swing factor — he dropped 25 on Phoenix and 22 at Utah, but shot 3-of-13 for nine points in the Memphis loss.

The Blazers spent the offseason betting that a Morant-Lillard backcourt could vault them from nondescript to dangerous. The bet still might win. But it now gets four weeks of stress testing before anyone finds out.