HOUSTON — The Trail Blazers didn't just get closer to winning their first-round playoff series Sunday, they also might have inched closer to getting a long-term commitment from LaMarcus Aldridge.

It was a memorable night for the Blazers’ forward, who had 46 points to go along with 18 rebounds in the Blazers’ 122-120 overtime victory in Houston.

The 46 points is the franchise record for a playoff game, and that’s important here, because as little as he wants to admit it, Aldridge said he indeed cares about his legacy in Portland and how it reflects in franchise history.

He is under contract through next season, after which he could surpass Clyde Drexler as the team’s all-time leading rebounder, while also passing Terry Porter into second place in scoring. He also stands to move into the top five in blocks, free throws, minutes, and games played.

In other words, if Aldridge decided to re-sign with the Blazers, there’s a very good chance he could end up holding every major career mark in franchise history.

Will that play a factor in his decision to re-up with Portland?

“It will,’’ Aldridge said. “But I will cross that bridge when I get there. But I think it will.’’

There is a reason why the records mean something to Aldridge.

For that moment, and for however long the record stands, it is his. Nobody can overshadow it, nobody can take it away from him.

If you think that is petty, consider what happened after Sunday’s game and put it in context to his career in Portland.

Aldridge had just finished perhaps the greatest individual performance in franchise history, and the national TNT broadcast grabbed not Aldridge, but his teammate, Damian Lillard for the postgame interview on the court.

“It was a little weird,’’ Aldridge said. “You make history and … that was a little weird.’’

It was an unintentional slight, TNT sideline reporter Marty Snider said, a byproduct of the network trying to navigate the craziness that came in the wake of an overtime thriller. In the chaos that ensued after the three hour, 21 minute marathon, Lillard was close to the camera, so they grabbed the young phenom, leaving the biggest star of the game to notice from afar and privately shake his head.

For those who have followed his entire career in Portland, you know this isn’t the first time Aldridge has had to settle for the fringe of the spotlight. In 2006, he was valued enough to be the No. 2 overall pick, but still not considered better than Andrea Bargnani.

In his early years with the Blazers, Aldridge was good — and sometimes great — but he was never better than Brandon Roy. Never adored by the fans like Roy. Never propped up like Roy.

It was a common scene for Aldridge to score 27 points and sit across the locker room with nary a reporter near him because they were all surrounding the affable and spectacular Roy.

On Sunday, even after Roy is gone, Aldridge was playing second fiddle on national television. Even with Roy retired, he couldn’t get the national spotlight.

“I’ve been in that position my whole career, because Brandon was a really great player, and I would do things and maybe not be seen for it, so I’m used to it,’’ Aldridge said.

Aldridge has never been one to seek the limelight, in part because he struggled with a stutter early in his career, and in part because he is a decidedly private individual. Eloquence is not his strength.

But we all want to be appreciated, all want to be recognized, and he admits the perceived slights stuck with him.

“It’s just one of those things I got used to,’’ Aldridge said. “I mean, I probably shouldn’t have gotten used to it, but it motivated me to work hard every summer and be better every year and show Portland that they still had a really good player. Because I felt like once we lost Brandon, everybody thought we were done. But I wanted to show that I was still here, and you could believe in me, too.’’

I’m figuring there isn’t one person in Portland who doesn’t believe in Aldridge today. Not after his Game 1 performance that was highlighted by inside play (12 of his 17 baskets were inside) and timely scoring (19 points in the fourth quarter) — things his detractors said he couldn’t do.

It was remarkable to see and hear Aldridge address the TNT slight, and his coming to grips with Roy’s shadow, with such ease and such comfort. He says he is a man at peace with himself and his standing, but notes it was a process, filled with obstacles and hurt feelings.

It wasn’t long ago that Aldridge would have welcomed the first chance to get out of Portland. The Blazers were losing. He preferred his homes in Los Angeles and Dallas.

But then he realized two things: general manager Neil Olshey was a mover and a shaker who could make the team better quickly. And Aldridge also noticed he was climbing the charts in the Blazers’ record book.

When you hold the franchise career mark, that’s a legacy. There’s no shadow. No sharing the spotlight. And often, it lasts. Drexler left in 1995 and 11 of his career records still stand.

While Aldridge admitted his standing in franchise history will play a factor in his decision, it will not be the biggest factor. Winning, he says, is at the top of his priority list, and he says “we are definitely going in the right direction.’’

In fact, the statistic he said he is most proud of is not his 10,901 career points, or his 4,709 rebounds.

“I like that out of the 12, 50-win seasons (in Portland history), I am part of three of them. I love being tied to winning things,’’ Aldridge said. “That’s big for me.

“(Those records) are things I love and look forward to, but I like winning,’’ Aldridge said. “I feel like great players are always tied to winning. Lots of guys have scored points, but only certain guys have won and scored points.’’

Before Game 1, Aldridge joked with Drexler, now a Houston television analyst, that he was coming for his records. In truth, Aldridge said he has never studied the record book, but has a sense of where he stands thanks to the Blazers’ communications staff.

“People always tell me, but you know me, I’m not a big guy into reading newspapers or looking up things,’’ Aldridge said. “But I’ve been there so long now, I’m starting to feel my place now.’’

It’s a place among the greats. This season alone, he has reached milestones that put him in company with Drexler, Maurice Lucas, Geoff Petrie, Sidney Wicks and Kiki Vandeweghe. And this year, on the all-time lists, he passed Jerome Kersey, Clifford Robinson, Rasheed Wallace and Buck Williams in various categories.

And now he holds the most cherished single-game record in the team’s playoff history. It’s stuff that leaves a memory. Stuff of which make legacies. And he knows those are everlasting.

If he needs a reminder, all he has to do is look above him when navigating his car to home games in Portland. The street that all players must use to enter the players’ lot at the arena is named Drexler Drive.

“Hopefully, one day if I win a championship and keep doing what I’m doing," Aldridge said, "I will have my own drive, too."

-- Jason Quick