Basketball, according to Will Barton, is like having a girlfriend.

“You gotta respect it, you gotta love it, treat her good,’’ the Trail Blazers guard said. “And eventually it will come back to you.’’

Ah yes, nearly two weeks after Valentines Day has passed, and Will Barton and his true love are back together again.

For the second time in a week, Barton left his impression on a Blazers’ victory on Wednesday, finishing with 20 points, a career-high 11 rebounds, and four assists. And if oohs-and-aahs were a category, he would have a triple double.

“Any time I can go out there and stay on the court, I can’t explain it, there’s just so much love I have for the game,’’ Barton said. “It’s like a girlfriend: I love it when we are out there together. I’m serious. You might think I’m crazy...’’

The only craziness at the Moda Center after Wednesday’s 124-80 thrashing of the Nets was the Blazers’ 4-1 record in the past week while All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, and reserve big men Joel Freeland and Meyers Leonard missed games with injury. That injury list on Wednesday also included Thomas Robinson, who hurt his knee the night before in Denver.

Coach Terry Stotts called the past week a “mixed blessing.” I call it a much welcomed discovery.

Nobody wants to see Aldridge miss any more games. He is too good, and there is too much at stake in the late-season traffic jam atop the Western Conference. But one can’t help but be encouraged at what the Blazers (40-18) found amid this sudden midseason adversity.

Will Barton can be an incredible burst of energy. Victor Claver is smart and is rarely out of position. Thomas Robinson can look dominant when he is active. And Dorell Wright has shown flickers of getting on a shooting streak.

One week ago, all of these players were collecting dust on the bench. Now, things don’t seem quite so precarious when it comes to the bench. It’s almost if there has been a morale boost both inside the locker room and in the Moda Center stands.

“It makes us a deeper team,’’ Damian Lillard said. “We’ve depended on the same six or seven guys this whole season. Now that we’ve had a little adversity, we’ve seen we have four other guys who can be ready when called on. Going forward, that gives us confidence that we can be a deeper team.’’

Stotts says he has always had confidence in the end of his bench. Maybe so. But like many coaches, he rides his starters hard. Backup point guard Mo Williams is the only non-starter to average more than 15 minutes a game.

It is doubtful these snippets of encouraging play from his seldom-used reserves will translate to a more judicious doling of minutes as the season winds down. Stotts says Aldridge will play, and play a lot, when he returns from his groin injury. So, sorry Thomas Robinson, that 14-point, 18-rebound night against Minnesota last week is probably not going to increase your 11 minutes a game.

And it’s not like Barton, or Claver, has been so good that Wesley Matthews or Nicolas Batum should lose any of their playing time.

Probably the biggest impact of this past week, Stotts said, is the snapshot this provided in what playing with a “small” lineup looks like. On Wednesday, Claver played at center for the first time in seven years, since he was 19 and playing for the Spain National team. Batum played power forward. Matthews played small forward. Wright played some power forward.

“It’s kind of a gift and a curse that we hit the injury big when we did,’’ Matthews said. “The gift is getting people an opportunity to play and get real game reps which is something you can’t simulate in practice. You never know what is going to happen at any point of the season, so for people to already have confidence knowing they can play, and for us to be able to play with a bunch of different lineups and win is a good thing.’’

But as Barton can attest, this doesn’t just happen with the snap of a finger. It comes with early mornings. It comes with shirts soaked in sweat that few see.

Lillard has seen those mornings and seen that sweat. When he arrives at practice, he says invariably, Barton and Robinson are already there, out on the court, having worked up a sweat going against each other, or working on different aspects of their game.

“I’m really excited for T-Rob and Will,’’ Lillard said. “I see them really putting in that time. They are working. Forty, 50 games pass and they get in every now and then, but when we needed them on the team’s time, not when they wanted it, they were still ready to come in and help the team, and it’s been big time. They have been pros. As a teammate and a friend, it’s excited to see them get rewarded for what they’ve done.’’

Barton says it goes back to that relationship. That girlfriend.

“You can’t complain and pout,’’ Barton said. “It’s a process.’’

Part of that process has been training his mind. Much like Thomas Robinson bounced his frustration off Matthews earlier this week, he admits he is human and gets frustrated. But he said he takes a step back and sees he is on a winning team, with players he likes.

“First of all, we were winning and I’m a team guy, so I’m happy for the guys,’’ Barton said. “These guys are like my brothers. My whole mindset is I’m a part of this, and I’ve got to stay ready, just in case somebody goes down, or in case Coach wants to change the rotation. It’s all about wanting to be good. I believe in myself. I’m going to be successful at this level, and the only way to do that is work.’’

Just like a relationship. Just like a girlfriend.

And what about that? Is basketball his only girlfriend?