After the Portland Trail Blazers‘ victory Sunday at Toronto to conclude a six-game trip, CJ McCollum was asked to assess the team’s play on the road, where they began the season 2-13.

McCollum then proceeded to do some math.

“It was a 4-2 road trip,” McCollum said. “How many games did I play on this trip?”

Four.

“How many losses did I take part in?” McCollum asked.

One.

“I’d say it was a pretty good trip,” McCollum said.

Yes. Yes, it was.

It was fair to expect that the Blazers (20-26) would fall further in the Western Conference standings when they departed on this six-game adventure, given how poorly they had played this season away from the Moda Center.

After all, they left without Damian Lillard (core surgery recovery), Norman Powell (COVID-19 protocols), Larry Nance Jr. (knee), Cody Zeller (knee) and McCollum.

But it didn’t work out that way. Instead, the Blazers, aside from a 140-108 loss at Denver to start the trip, continued playing the level of quality basketball they had displayed during five games at home to start January. They went 3-2 over that stretch, with a win over Brooklyn (29-17), and now have pushed their record to 7-4 for the month. That’s quite a turnaround after the Blazers went 2-11 in December.

“Outside of the Denver game where we obviously were really, really short-handed, I thought it was an excellent trip,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “You come out and do six games and we played some very quality teams on this trip, and won four games. And we know our road woes this year. It’s been tough to come by some wins. It was an incredible trip for us. I’m so proud of our guys. We’re just becoming a real unit. I’m really happy about that.”

The loss at Denver made total sense. Portland was without the aforementioned players, but Anfernee Simons, who is the team’s leading scorer this month, also missed that game to attend his grandfather’s funeral in Florida.

Simons returned for the next game to help the team win 115-110 at Washington. McCollum joined the team for the next game, a 98-88 win at Orlando.

The Blazers stumbled at Miami, 104-92, but then won 109-105 at Boston and 114-105 at Toronto. Against Miami, the Blazers failed down the stretch. But in other wins, they made several key plays at both ends to fuel victories or protect leads.

“We’re going to lose some close games like we did against Miami,” McCollum said. “But as long as we compete, we’re going to give ourselves a chance down the stretch.”

Where the team improved the most in comparison to previous road trips was on defense. For the season, the Blazers’ road defensive rating ranks last (115.9). But during the past six games, they ranked eighth (109.4), and that’s in comparison to the rest of the NBA while including their home games during that same stretch.

“I think we just got a better understanding of what Chauncey expects from us,” McCollum said. “I think defensively, we’re mixing up our coverages. We’re competing more. Understanding the rotations a little bit better. Making that second and third effort.”

Billups said he’s seen a change in how players trust one another.

“I just feel like more than any other time, we’ve taken the more personal challenges to guard our man, knowing that I have help if I get beat,” he said. “And that’s where you really want to be. You want to take the personal challenge.”

Offensively, Billups said he likes the team’s pace and willingness to share the basketball.

“We’re making the effort to break defenses down and get to the paint and then make the proper play from there,” he said. “If it’s the shot, cool. If it’s the kick, cool. If they kick it and they close out, we put it on the ground and we keep playing. We’re playing for each other. And that’s what I’m most proud of about us right now.”

Simons said the team overcame a lot of different scenarios during the trip. Different styles of opponents and different tests to pull out wins.

“I think through it all we’ve gotten better,” Simons said. “Obviously came out with some good wins as well.”

The Blazers’ reward? To return home for back-to-back games Tuesday against Minnesota and then Wednesday against Dallas. Then, the Blazers hit the road again for four games starting Friday at Houston.

“That’s trash,” McCollum said. “I don’t know who made that schedule. I’m going to have some calls this week to figure that out because that don’t make no sense. To play a back-to-back and then have a travel day, we should have a designated off day. No way we should be traveling, especially that far. After coming off a road trip. It don’t make any sense.”

But at least the road doesn’t appear as daunting as it once did.