WATCH: Damian Lillard Hangs 27 Points on the Grizzlies

Led by Damian Lillard, the Portland Trail Blazers are off to a surprisingly strong start (4-2)—they took down the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 115-96 Thursday night.

Lillard finished with a game-high 27 points and five assists; he also connected on seven of 11 three-point attempts.

The Grizz have been blown out in half of their six games played so far this season.

Per The Oregonian:

On one side of the room, Damian Lillard, Moe Harkless and Tim Frazier huddled near Lillard’s corner stall and watched as replays showed Lillard swishing threes and Mason Plumlee finishing monster dunks. On the other side of the room, Al-Farouq Aminu lounged in a chair in front of his locker, reliving the Blazers’ third-quarter offensive explosion. In the middle of it all was Allen Crabbe, buttoning up his shirt in front of his stall, when Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and the TNT gang mentioned his name, saying the Blazers always seem to have a big “6-foot-7” guard who can shoot and play defense like Crabbe.

 

“Six-seven? Six-seven?” Aminu shouted, chuckling, as the Blazers’ locker room erupted. “He’s ’bout 6-3.”

 

They trounced the Grizzlies 115-96 in front of a sellout Moda Center crowd, surprisingly moving to the top of the Northwest Division standings at 4-2. […] It’s only six games into a marathon NBA season, but be honest. You never thought the Blazers would start this hot. You never expected a rebuilding team picked by Vegas to finish a hair better than the Philadelphia 76ers to look so good. And you had no idea the Blazers would punk the team that punished them in first round of the Western Conference playoffs last season.