The Portland Trail Blazers‘ defense has reached a level of excellence that should concern all future opponents.

On Tuesday night, the Blazers dominated Indiana, one of the NBA’s highest-scoring teams, during a 112-89 win at the Moda Center.

The performance even somewhat surprised Blazers coach Chauncey Billups.

“You don’t expect them not to score 90 points,” Billups said.

This occurred because the Blazers disrupted the Pacers’ offense from the opening tip. Indiana shot just 5 of 24 from three-point range (20.8%). They entered the night averaging 34.3 attempts per game, shooting 37.2% (ninth in the NBA).

“Quite frankly, they weren’t open,” Billups said. “We made a ton of extra efforts to try to get them off the line.”

Extra defensive effort has fueled the team’s run of nine victories in 10 games. At this point, the Blazers’ recent performances can’t be considered fluky.

The Blazers led the NBA with a 104.7 defensive rating over their last 10 games. They rank second in defensive field goal percentage (43.6%), first in defensive three-point field goal percentage (29.3%), sixth in turnovers forced per game (15.3) and sixth in points off turnovers (19.1).

In summary, the Blazers have become what Billups hoped they would: a team nobody wants to play.

“That’s been my vision the entire time, is I want to be that team that nobody wants to play against,” he said. “Even when you come in and play well and win, you have to fight so hard for that win. You have to go earn that, and that’s what I want us to be at all times, home or on the road. I want teams to earn their keep against us, and we’re doing that right now. You know, we’ve been pretty good at it.”

The Blazers hired Billups in 2021, expecting him to revamp the team’s Matador defense. But injuries, trades, tanking for draft picks, and a general lack of cohesion derailed those plans.

This season, the Blazers believed they had the pieces to improve defensively. But in December, they posted a defensive rating of 124.4, the worst in the NBA.

During a team meeting in late December, Billups asked each player if he could be held accountable. According to Scoot Henderson, everyone answered, “Yes.”

“From then on, we’ve been playing together,” Henderson said.

And that has taken hold on defense.

The Blazers (22-29) played better defensively during a five-game trip to start January, but they returned home and allowed 123.5 points per game during four blowout losses.

Then, everything changed. The frequent mistakes began to dwindle. The chemistry started to form.

“We’re playing together, playing with each other, and we’re having each other’s back,” guard Shaedon Sharpe said. “So, when we’re doing that and we’re winning games, it’s really fun playing this way.”

Said Henderson: “I think it’s fun, just not even with the wins and losses, but the way we’re playing. That’s really fun. The way we’re playing together and sticking together.”

Poor stretches caused some games to unravel earlier in the season. But recently, the Blazers have found ways to overcome those moments.

On Tuesday, Portland entered the fourth quarter up 78-66. Three minutes later, their lead was just 80-74.

“They kind of punched back a little bit,” Henderson said. “During those stretches, I remember there were games we would kind of fall apart.”

But not on Tuesday night.

Billups called a timeout to calm his team down. From that point on, they allowed just 15 points.

“At that point, it was who wants it more?” Henderson said. “And the last few games, we’ve been wanting it more than the other team. And we’ve been showing that, on both sides of the floor. We’ve been showing that on defense, we’ve been showing that in communication and sprinting back on deep and not jogging back with our heads turned.”

Tuesday night’s game plan, Billups said, was to guard well for at least the first eight seconds per possession because Indiana likes to play fast and get up shots.

“And we did that probably 75% of the time in the game, and I thought we just outlasted him,” Billups said.

Thanks largely to forward Toumani Camara, the Blazers held Indiana’ All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton scoreless in 25 minutes.

“He enjoys those matchups,” Henderson said. “To take those one-on-ones. To take the best player on their team and kind of just challenge himself a little bit to challenge the other guy.”

The Blazers have also managed to outlast and challenge several star-studded teams recently. More challenges await. The 13th-place Blazers find themselves within striking distance of earning a play-in berth. But they will need other teams to fall off. This season will likely end with the Blazers missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

However, this season would be a success if the Blazers establish a new defensive standard they can carry into 2024-25. At least for now, that appears possible.

“The defense has really been humming,” Billups said.