TUALATIN -- As Moe Harkless strolled in front of a flock of microphones and television cameras Thursday afternoon, reporters peppered the Portland Trail Blazers' starting small forward with questions about his late-season renaissance.

What's changed? Did a moment spark his transformation? Did a teammate pull him aside and snap him out of his funk?

But it turns out the Curious Case of Moe Harkless started in the unlikeliest of ways: With an apology.

"Sometimes you have to look yourself in the mirror," Harkless said. "And this was one of those times."

The way Harkless tells the story, his evolution back to difference-maker came after an innocuous game well before the Blazers emerged as one of the hottest teams in the NBA.

It was Jan. 16 and the Blazers were scuffling. They had just suffered three losses during a tough four-game trip to fall to a mediocre 22-21 on the season. The good news? They were hosting the woeful Phoenix Suns and a victory seemed likely. The bad news? Harkless not only had lost his starting job, but also a rotation spot, so he would watch the victory from the end of the bench.

Harkless is the first to admit he's the moodiest player on the team, affable, engaging and hilarious when things are going well but potentially quiet, distant and pouty when times are tough. As the Blazers were plodding along toward mediocrity and he was relegated to the bench unable to help, Harkless found himself in a bad place. This reality smacked him in the face after the Suns game.

The Blazers built a 27-point lead, made 17 three-pointers and treated the Moda Center to a bevy of highlights as they beat the Suns 118-111. But afterward, when Harkless watched film of the win, he was stunned.

When Shabazz Napier flipped a behind-the-back pass to Al-Farouq Aminu for a three, Harkless' teammates on the bench hopped up and went ballistic. But he sat solemnly, arms folded, scowl on his face. After CJ McCollum snatched a steal on defense and streaked the other way for a pull-up three in transition, a similar scene unfolded. The Blazers' bench erupted. Harkless sat motionless. He didn't even bother standing to participate in timeout huddles.

This demeanor mirrored previous games, when Harkless sat despondent at the end of the bench, wearing a warmup hoodie pulled tightly around his head.

Eight days earlier, before the Blazers left for that four-game trip, Harkless admitted he was navigating the toughest stretch of his career and his faith was being tested. But through all his ups and downs, he had always been a good teammate and one of the most well-liked players on the roster. As he wrestled with ways to snap out of his funk, the video of his conduct during the Suns game provided a perfect jolt.

"That probably was the most frustrated I'd been all season," Harkless said Thursday. "If you look at the film of that game, I was really bad on the bench. I looked at it and I kind of took a look in the mirror after that. I was like, no matter what's going on, I can't be a bad teammate. These are still my guys."

Harkless texted coach Terry Stotts after the game and told him he wanted to apologize to the team at practice the next day. So when the Blazers gathered to watch video in the theatre at the practice facility in Tualatin, Harkless stood up, told his teammates and the coaching staff he was sorry and pledged never to let it happen again.

The room was both sympathetic and forgiving.

"He's a bigger and better person for it," Napier said. "We're all competitors and we all understand. I didn't actually think he needed to do it. But we're all different people and we all understand that every single one of us wants what's best for the team. It's part of life to be frustrated about not playing or not making a big impact for the team when you're out there. So I think it was just him trying to get something off his chest."

Almost instantly, Harkless said, his outlook changed.

"They were like, 'That's a man move,'" Harkless said, noting the reaction from his teammates. "It was nothing but respect. Everybody was like, 'I didn't even notice it. But we appreciate you.' That's when things kind of started to turn around. My attitude changed. Positivity brings positivity."

Harkless didn't play a second in four of the next six games. But he cheered for his teammates, he was engaged during timeouts, he wore a smile on his face. Coincidently, the Blazers also finally started to build a little midseason momentum, winning six of the next seven games. By the middle of February, injuries thrust Harkless back into the starting lineup. He slowly started to rediscover his mojo, overcame an injury scare, then became a key component in a 13-game winning streak that thrust the Blazers (44-27) into third place in the Western Conference.

Over the last four games, Harkless has scored 65 points -- his highest-scoring four-game stretch of the season -- and is averaging 16.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals, while shooting 72 percent from the field (23 of 32) and 71.4 percent from three-point range (10 of 14). All the while, his defensive versatility and tenacity have been immeasurably important to a Blazers defense that has surprisingly emerged as one of the NBA's stingiest.

"He's arguably on his best run since he's been here," Stotts said. "It's the reason why he started the season as the starter. It was clear-cut. He was our best option. I think it's obvious that him in the starting lineup, with those guys, with (Aminu), our defense can be very effective. I think a lot of people just look at points and shots and things like that. But when Moe's engaged, he creates problems inside, he makes his threes, he's versatile on defense. He brings a lot to the table for us."

Harkless may not be one of the Blazers' stars. But the way he's playing, he's an invaluable two-way part of a supporting cast that could determine how dangerous the Blazers become in the playoffs. Damian Lillard calls him the Blazers' X-factor.

"When he's doing the things he's doing,' Lillard said, "it makes us a completely different team."

It's been a roller coaster of a season for Harkless, who lost his starting job in late November, lost his rotation spot in early December and seemingly lost his love for the game in January.

But with an unlikely apology and a late-season renaissance, Harkless -- and the Blazers -- are streaking toward a surprisingly fun finish.

"It's a part of growing up," Harkless said. "It's something that I probably wouldn't have done a couple years ago. But my teammates didn't deserve me not cheering for them, sitting down during timeouts, stuff like that. I felt bad about that. So I apologized. Things changed after that.

"Now there's 11 games left. The final push. This is where things get really fun."

--Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman