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Don’t look now, but the Portland Trail Blazers are back in the playoffs.

That was not a typo. Portland has now solidified their spot in the playoffs with the only question being where they finally land and which team that will face in the first round.

That is not to take away from a solid victory over an undermanned Oklahoma City Thunder team 120-115 on Wednesday night. The Blazers improve to 43-37, while the Thunder fall to 54-25.

While the Thunder made it interesting down the stretch, cutting the massive 28-point deficit to under ten points as the fourth quarter wound down, the overwhelming story is clearly Portland’s clinching of a playoff berth.

At the beginning of the season, a person would be hard-pressed to find one person who said that Portland had a legitimate shot of making the playoffs, let alone securing a decent seed. But, ever since that incredible hot streak, that started ironically against Thunder, in January and February where the Blazers won 18 of 22 games, the playoffs did not just become a possibility, but a likelihood.

It is hard to believe that it seemed impossible to wish for a higher seed than the eighth, but the Blazers secured the sixth seed and are looking to grab the fifth seed from the free-falling Memphis Grizzlies.

Portland is playing some of their best basketball and it could not come at a better time. While there are some aspects to be analyzed in last night’s Thunder tilt, much of it can be chalked up to the fact that the Blazers were playing their fourth game in five nights and it felt like it.

After zooming to a massive 28-point lead, the Blazers shot just 35 percent from the field in the fourth quarter and made just eight of their attempts. The Thunder, on the other hand, had other ideas. Enes Kanter went perfect going 4-of-4 from the field and 1-of-1 from three with 12 points and seven rebounds en route to his monster 33 points on 13-of-18 shooting for the game.

Portland’s energy was becoming a factor, especially on defense where the intensity and rotations seemed a step off. For a brief moment, it seemed like the Blazers might put themselves in a dangerous situation potentially losing a game to the second string squad of the Thunder. But, thanks to Ed Davis who made two quick buckets and Oklahoma City turning the ball over five times in the quarter including a bad pass with 0:37 remaining, the Blazers escaped unscathed.

It has become obvious that Mo Harkless is the starter going forward with his contributions on both ends; the Blazers have a weapon that can be used in the playoffs. On the night, Harkless finished with 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 1-of-3 from three with five rebounds, two assists, four steals and two blocks. Harkless is becoming the glue of the starting lineup and it is hard to imagine him not starting, which seems ludicrous considering he was mostly absent from the court a few weeks ago.

Another sneaky development is Al-Farouq Aminu’s offense as he finished with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting, 3-of-8 from three with six rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block. With his transition to the power forward position, Aminu has put up the two best games of his career and has been carrying the offensive load with Damian Lillard being swarmed in each outing.

Along with Aminu, C.J. McCollum has continued to do his offensive damage. He finished with 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting, 4-of-8 from three. Continuing his lethal shooting from three, McCollum has further pushed the Blazers because of Lillard having to defer on more and more possessions.

All of these pieces show a potential scenario where Portland could legitimately do some damage, especially if the Blazers get the fifth seed and face the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. Do they win a series against any potential team? Hard to say, but they will be a dangerous underdog.

But, the fact that this is a topic being discussed is a victory in and of itself. Preseason analyts were expecting a 20+ win season with a high-draft pick, but instead the Blazers are surging with over 40 wins and, potentially dropping just a single seed lower than last year’s team.

With the Blazers finally embracing small ball lineups as the norm and other players finally emerging, the Blazers are no longer a two-trick pony. In fact, they have become deeper simply by discovery. Whether that transfers into playoff wins is a mystery because the playoffs are a different animal.

Whatever the case, it does not look like there will be down seasons that are a struggle to get through; in fact, it looks like the rebuild is far ahead of schedule.

Next up, the Blazers take on the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PST.

Stay tuned!