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Andre Miller’s two seasons as point guard of the Portland Trail Blazers have been filled with all sorts of craziness. There were the supposed issues with star guard Brandon Roy at first, then Miller finally moved into the starting point guard role, and then his team has seen player after player go down with injury. Through it all Miller maintains an even keel, the most balanced player in the locker room.

"I try to relax," said Miller. "I try not to get too high and try not to get too low. I try to provide stability and leadership on the court and have guys follow."

And follow they have. This season Miller has become without a doubt the team’s floor leader. His 7.3 assists per game are right at his career average and his best number in the past four seasons, since he was initially traded from Denver to Philadelphia. His free throw and field-goal percentages are up and the rest of his numbers – at 34 years old and in his 12th NBA season – are right on his career averages.

Once again the Blazers have had to deal with injuries. Brandon Roy missed 34 games; Greg Oden, Jeff Pendergraph, and Elliot Williams didn’t play a single minute; Joel Przybilla missed the first quarter of the season before being traded for Gerald Wallace; and Marcus Camby missed 19 games. One might think Miller would point to that as something holding the team back, but he doesn’t.

"There’s been some injuries, but that’s normal. Just ups and downs, like every other team."

Despite the injuries, Portland is 37-27 and in sixth place in the Western Conference. Miller deserves some credit, along with Coach Nate McMillan, for keeping the team focused when they could have fallen completely apart. But again, he defers.

"We have some guys with good character that go out and compete in practice and that carries over into games."

The Blazers have fought hard through the injuries, doing all the little things they can, but their talent has helped them adapt to the injuries.

"With this team it’s the health factor. I’ve been on a couple teams with deep talent and there’s definitely a lot of talent here. It’s just injuries."

Now Roy is back and looking better each game. Camby is healthy. Wallace is looking more and more comfortable in the Portland offense. While still thin in the middle, suddenly the Blazers are starting to look a little tough. Miller calls this a key point in time for them.

"We’ve got to finish off on a good note. March is probably the toughest month of the season, so it’s going to take some mental toughness to get through this month playing high level teams. If we can keep guys healthy going into the playoffs, then anything can happen."

Now on the road after a long home stretch, Miller agrees with Roy this trip is going to be key to getting the team’s chemistry in place for the stretch run.

"Yes. We’ve had a down year as far as production on the road, but we found a way to some wins recently. The biggest thing is to try and get to .500 or better on the road, and this is an opportunity playing all four games with teams who are fighting for playoff spots. If we can come out on top on this road trip our record will look better."

After winning the first two games of their road trip – in Orlando and Miami on back-to-back nights – the Blazers face Charlotte tonight and then Atlanta on Saturday. Their road record sits at 16-17 and a four-game road sweep isn’t outside the realm of possibility. It would also put them over .500 on the road. Only four Western Conference teams have over .500 records on the road: San Antonio, Dallas, L.A. Lakers, and Oklahoma City. Considering Portland has the worst home record of the top eight teams (at 21-10 through Thursday) in the west, winning those road games is a must.

{AUTHOR_BOX}Miller, almost always quiet and subdued, even, animates when talking about his star power forward, LaMarcus Aldridge. With Roy out Aldridge became Portland’s dominant offensive force and one of the league’s most dynamic big men. While Miller deserves a lot of credit for helping bring Aldridge to this point, he gives all the credit to his teammate for the improvement.

"He’s playing good basketball overall. He’s had a consistent year, he’s been healthy, played a lot of minutes, and for a big guy that’s tough. He’s definitely taken on the challenge by going to the post and not relying on the jump shot all the time, playing with his back to the basket, drawing double-teams, and getting to the free throw line. He’s found a good mixture and that’s why he’s playing good basketball."

When Roy first came back he noted Aldridge suddenly started to defer to him. After a chat where he told the big man to keep doing what he’s doing, Aldridge came back and the Blazers have been better for it. Miller credits Aldridge’s assertiveness as part of the team’s overall improvement.

"That’s the goal with any team, to establish and control the paint. When you have a big man that can get down there – like a Dwight Howard or any dominant big man who can play with their back to the basket – that puts pressure on the defense. He’s been able to do that as really our only big out there. It’s a tough challenge, but he’s a big part of our success."

With Aldridge dominating, Wallace on the team, Roy back, and everyone seemingly clicking, the question has to be asked. Is the Western Conference race wide open? And does a six seed like Portland have a chance?

"You could say it’s wide open during the season, but once the playoffs hit there’s three or four teams that can go to the Finals. That’s the politics of basketball. Wide open or not during the season, we already know who is going to be there down the stretch."

That’s not conspiracy theory talk. Instead, it’s commentary on how good the top of the conference – the aforementioned San Antonio, Dallas, L.A. Lakers, and Oklahoma City – already are. Even when they struggle a bit, as the Lakers did, claiming the conference is wide open and anyone can beat them is disingenuous.

Then again…

"The best we can do is just continue to work hard. They say anything can happen in the playoffs, so we’ll see how that turns out."

Portland has the same record as the Denver Nuggets (Denver has the tiebreaker) and sits 3.5 games behind the Thunder. With 18 games left in the season – 10 at home, eight on the road, 12 against current playoff teams – the Blazers have a chance to make a move. If they do, Andre Miller will be guiding it the entire way.

Can Portland make some playoff noise? Leave your thoughts in the comments below! Chat with Jason Fleming every Monday at 8pm Eastern Time and follow him on Twitter!