It went from real ugly to real pretty in a matter of seven minutes.

That's how long it took for the Blazers to rattle off a 21-0 run which started at the end of the third quarter. By the fourth quarter, Portland had gained a 25-point advantage over Philadelphia.

How is that for payback? How is that for another spectacular fourth quarter for Portland?

"It's just gratifying to see that kind of growth in such a young team," McMillan said after the 97-72 Blazers win, now their 13th straight.

The man speaks the truth. Portland trailed by 11 points early and looked completely timid against a more physical Philadelphia 76ers, who in the end believed the whistles didn't go there way against Portland.

Yet, it was McMillan's halftime speech to his young Blazers team that really got the team going.

"The first half, I thought we were playing the game too cute," McMillan said.

"It was at halftime that he came in and chewed us out," Brandon Roy, who led the Blazers with 22 points explained. "But once they stopped hitting tough shots and we started getting stops, we started to get it rolling and it's hard to stop us."

Philadelphia only scored 9 points in the fourth quarter and the Blazers bench outscored the Sixers', 49-15.

That's what was missing from Portland in the first half. And that was the difference in the second half, complete with a SportsCenter worthy dunk by Travis Outlaw on Rodney Carney. Afterwards, Outlaw was peppered with questions regarding the stretch-back throwdown.

His country boy "awe-shucks" expression said it all.

Even his teammates had their take.

"That was dirty," Channing Frye told HOOPSWORLD. "I've seen some dunks in my life. That was probably one of the top two dunks I've seen."

But just as Frye was taken back by Outlaw's elevation, you can easily turn around and be in awe at another "team win" for Portland. After a poor shooting first half, the Blazers turned it on with Outlaw (12 points), Jarrett Jack (10 points) and James Jones (12 points) coming on strong in the fourth quarter.

And you know when rookie Josh McRoberts gets on the court for nearly two-minutes worth of run and scores 4 points, 1 steal, and 1 rebound, that this truly was a "team" win."

Talk about lucky number 13.

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As a side note, Nate McMillan will not travel with the team to Utah, where the Blazers take on the Jazz tomorrow night. McMillan's mother-in-law passed away recently and he will make the trip to North Carolina where the funeral will be held..

Assistant coach Dean Demopoulos will fill in for McMillan, who will re-join the team in Minnesota for Tuesday's game against the Timberwolves.

The Sixers have come to play, no doubt about it.

It started with Samuel Dalembert's block against Joel Przybilla and finished with Philadelphia leading by 9 points heading into the half.

Three Sixers have already have double-digits: Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala and Rodney Carney. And while you always know what Miller and A.I. bring to the table, Carney is still finding his groove.

He's fallen into one here in Portland today pouring in 11 points and going 5-6 from the field in his fourth straight start.

So how does Portland bounce back?

It helps to hit shots. LaMarcus Aldridge, Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw are a combined 4-14 and Portland shot a shoddy 38.9% during the first half.

Portland is not going to win by taking fade away jumpers. That means you L.A. and T.O. And for the most part, that's what they've settled in on for their offense. That and being hesitant. 

Second, hit somebody. Philly has 26 points in the paint and are getting the bucket with ease. When a 6'2, 175 pound Lou Williams goes to the rim without a Blazer putting a body on him, something is wrong. You can nearly hear Nate McMillan telling his players the same thing now.

Time to get physical.

Time to emulate the Sixers and play some tough defense.

Time to consider the win-streak could easily end today.

So much is being made about the story Jason Quick ran in the Oregonian today.

As usual, some real solid work by Quick.

The piece essentially attributes Portland's current win-streak to a heated practice days before the Blazers beat the Memphis Grizzlies in mid-November where a fight broke out.

Here's the quick (no pun intended) recap: Joel Przybilla and Martell Webster got into it-complete with Webster being dropped on the hardwood, Steve Blake kicked and tossed a chair and Channing Frye stood up and backed McMillan's assertion that Portland needed to play with the same intensity during the games as they did in practice.

"I wanted the aggressiveness, "McMillan said about the practice in his pregame press conference today.

"We needed to become more physical. And basically you set it up that we are going to go in and work hard. We're getting pushed around. We need a feel of how to play against it. It wasn't you were going in there expecting a fight."

Regardless, it worked.

But whether that was the "match that lit the powder keg" is up for debate. McMillan says it wasn't the one spark, but it was part of it. For McMillan, the play of James Jones is the one that pushed them over the top and McMillan thinks Jones' 9.6 points per game and league leading 3-point percentage (53.6%) is as good enough reason as any.

Jones is out on the practice court at 8:30 am sharp putting shots up.

That's working too.

On the Philadelphia side of things, Gordan Giricek-the newest member of the Sixers-is in the building but will be "in-active" for today's game. He'll likely be ready to go when the Sixers play at Seattle tomorrow.

It was the middle of November, the 16th to be exact.

The Blazers remember that day in Philadelphia. The bad taste is there to remind them. Portland was fresh off a loss to the Denver Nuggets and ran off a 25 point lead two nights later on the road against the Sixers.

You know the rest.

Philly's Lou Williams along with the rest of the Sixers reserves came back to beat Portland, sending the Blazers on a 1-7 tailspin.

My, how times have changed.

Today is all about payback. No, Portland hasn't been plotting revenge since the blown-lead loss but as Brandon Roy told HOOPSWORLD on Friday night after the Blazers 12th straight win, it did leave a bad taste in their mouth.

And while running the win-streak to 13 may not be the focus in Portland, Philly should also not be overlooked.

They ride a modest three game win-streak into Portland and have gone 7-3 in their last ten games, not to mention pulling off a trade yesterday with the Utah Jazz. The Jazz get Kyle Korver, while the Sixers receive Gordon Giricek, a future first round pick and the some cap space.

I'll be at the Rose Garden today for the 3 o'clock start and will provide pregame, halftime, and postgame Courtside Blog updates on the latest with the Blazers and Sixers. Make sure to drop me a line (wmaxey@hoopsworld.com) or throw in a comment below if you are looking for a certain scoop or just want talk some basketball.

Catch you at pregame....