The still-depleted Portland Trail Blazers used one of their most well-balanced performances of the season to earn a rare road win Saturday, beating the Washington Wizards 115-110 in the nation's capital. The Blazers' victory was just their third away from home all season and moves them to 17-25 overall, still tenth in the Western Conference. But some optimism is building for Portland regardless, with Anfernee Simons continuing to thrive in the present while forecasting an even brighter future.

Simons dominated in another opportunity as Portland's lead ball-handler on Saturday, dropping 31 points and 11 assists—tying a career-high set earlier this week—on 11-of-21 shooting overall and 7-of-14 from beyond the arc. He poured in 26 of those points during a jaw-dropping first half, hitting all seven of his triples while playing seamlessly within the flow of the offense. Simons lost his jumper after halftime, but made a significant impact anyway due to his willingness to quickly move the ball when Washington sent two defenders at him in pick-and-roll.

“It just opened up everything,” Chauncey Billups said of his approach as a playmaker. “I loved his patience in the double-teams. Sometimes he got it out quick, sometimes he dragged the defense a little bit, giving Nurk the chance to get his feet set. I just thought Ant did a really, really good job of reading the game.”

Simons is averaging 28.3 points and 8.2 assists over his last six games, all of which have come as the Blazers' primary playmaker with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum sidelined. That huge spike in usage has hardly been accompanied by inefficiency, though. He's shooting 51.3% overall and 45.7% on nearly 12 threes per game over that timeframe, good for a scorching effective field goal percentage of 65.2—nearly 13 points higher than league average.

It's not just hot shooting and finishing driving Simons' breakout play, either. He looked the part of a full-time floor general against the Wizards, constantly manipulating the defense with extra dribbles, wider angles and subtle fakes while committing just two turnovers. Simons is averaging only 2.7 miscues since Lillard was sidelined again, a perfectly acceptable number for any alpha-dog playmaker, let alone one occupying that role for the first time as his star teammates sit.

“He's just growing up in front of our eyes,” Billups said. “It's not just the freedom that he's receiving from how we wanna play as a staff. It's just Dame and CJ and those guys pouring into him over the years, and now it's opportunity meeting preparation. I'm not surprised. Maybe some people are, but I'm not.”

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McCollum will be back in the lineup on Monday, and Norman Powell will soon return as well. It's still possible that Lillard comes back in March or beyond. But it's telling that Billups stoically demurred after the game when asked if McCollum's presence will change what the Blazers are asking of Simons.

Portland's season hasn't gone the way anyone wanted. Even an unlikely late-season push for a top-six seed wouldn't change this team's bleak outlook in the playoffs. At least the Blazers seem to have found a new homegrown star, though. The next step is ensuring Simons continues taking his game to new heights.