LaMarcus Aldridge and the Portland Trail Blazers Are NBA Title Contenders

After an impressive win over the LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat last night, the Portland Trail Blazers have proven that they are a real threat in the Western Conference.

Not only are they a threat to win the West title, but they are a legitimate NBA Finals contender. 

Portland is led by several of the NBA's most underrated players; one of them, LeMarcus Aldridge, is quietly becoming a serious candidate for the MVP award.

Aldridge was the biggest snub of the All-Star selections this year and has used that as motivation to fuel the Blazer's recent run of seven straight road wins.

It didn't matter who the Heat chose to defend Aldridge with last night. The star forward shot 50 percent from the field versus Chris Bosh, Joel Anthony and Erik Dampier.

He got anything he wanted on offense and wasn't troubled on the defensive end, either.

The Blazers are a deep team and can hurt you in so many ways offensively. 

Trading for defensive specialist and quality scorer Gerald Wallace from Charlotte at the trading deadline may turn out to be the best acquisition of the season.

Wallace doesn't just give the Blazers scoring, he can guard the other team's best perimeter player so Brandon Roy does not have to use so much energy on defense. Wallace is also a capable leader on the floor in crunch time as well.

He could easily be the number one scoring option if Roy's injury problems become a factor again this season.

The biggest difference between the Heat and many teams, not just the Blazers last night, is that Dwayne Wade and LeBron James score too much and do not get their teammates involved enough.

The Blazers had six players score in double figures, with Aldridge and Wallace both scoring over 20 points. Miami only had three players score more than 10 points; Wade with 38, LeBron with 31 and Mario Chalmers with 10.

Chris Bosh had only seven points in yet another pathetic performance from the "superstar" forward. The worst stat in Bosh's game last night was his four rebounds.

Seven points and four rebounds in 40 minutes of play is not what Pat Riley envisioned when he signed Bosh to a max contract last summer.

Part of the problem is that Bosh is not receiving the necessary touches he needs to get going offensively and that is Wade's and LeBron's fault, not Bosh's.

The Blazers made it a priority to get the ball into Aldridge constantly in the low post and from the elbow. Both Aldridge and Bosh are talented players, but without touches they cannot get into the game. They are not guards who have the ball at least once on almost every possession.

One of the strongest components of the Blazers squad is their bench.

With Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez and Gerald Wallace coming off the bench, Portland has the most potent second unit in the league offensively.

No other team can bring two elite scorers and a solid long range shooter off the bench at the same time. This depth will be very beneficial to the Blazers come playoff time.

In addition to the great scoring the bench provides, the most important part of the second unit's strong play is that it allows no player to play more than 40 minutes.

Only Aldridge played more than 40 minutes last night (41). Keeping guys fresh and healthy will be a major part of the Blazers playoff run. Injuries have hurt them in the past, but if everyone's healthy, they can beat any team in the Western Conference.

After the game last night, James and Wade restated that the team's confidence remains high, but can we really believe them?

They are not playing with the effort required to beat the elite teams. With a brutal schedule ahead that has them playing the Lakers and Thunder, the worst days may be yet to come.

Portland took last night's game seriously and badly wanted the win, much more than Miami did. Andre Miller said after the game, in an AP article on ESPN.com, "We needed that win."

The Blazers are realizing they have a special team, one that's well balanced and deep.

If they remain healthy, they have all the pieces needed to make a deep run in the playoffs and possibly represent the conference in the NBA Finals.

We've waited for the Portland Trail Blazers to take the next step as a franchise.

This will be the year.