CHARLOTTE -- Go ahead and celebrate the Trail Blazers' nine-game winning streak.

Feel free to savor a nice little three-game sweep of an East Coast trip and yet another second-half comeback.

But, as you do, take your largest dose of satisfaction in this:

"I don't think we've played our best yet," LaMarcus Aldridge said.

The Blazers continued their sizzling early-season run Wednesday night, defeating the Charlotte Hornets 105-97 before 16,972 at Time Warner Cable Arena. But afterward, the sentiment in the visiting locker room was that this team, despite everything it has done, has a whole lot of room to grow.

"We've had games where we've looked really good," Damian Lillard said. "But I still don't think we've played our best."

And that was certainly true against the Hornets (4-12). For much of the first half, the Blazers (12-3) looked like a team with one eye on Thursday's Thanksgiving feast.

If Aldridge wasn't bricking jumpers off the backboard, Nicolas Batum was throwing ill-advised passes that made you slap your forehead. And all the while, the Blazers' much-improved defense was getting torched by the unheralded Brian Roberts, who -- despite entering the game averaging just 5.5 points per game -- finished with 24 points, including 15 in the first half.

Early in the third quarter, the hungry Hornets, who have lost seven in a row, led by 13 points.

Of course, this is the NBA and a 13-point lead can evaporate in a snap, and that snap came Wednesday from Wesley Matthews. The Blazers' starting shooting guard seemingly hit everything he threw up against the Hornets, swishing three-pointers and completing fadeaway post moves with equal ease. He made 10 of 15 shots, including 6 of 9 threes, and recorded a season-high 28 points. Eleven of them came during the third quarter, when the Blazers outscored the Hornets 34-20 to snatch control of the game.

When Matthews drained a three-pointer and had a three-point play on back-to-back possessions early in the fourth quarter, the Blazers took an 87-79 lead and never looked back.

Lillard was solid from beginning to end, recording 22 points, seven assists and four rebounds, and Robin Lopez had one of his most complete outings of the season, finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. But it was Matthews' hot shooting that carried the Blazers to their NBA-best ninth consecutive victory.

"Wes is a guy that once he sees one go in, he can make four or five in a row," Lillard said. "He's one of those guys that can really get on a roll and he did it tonight."

That roll was particularly helpful because Aldridge endured one of the worst shooting games of his NBA career, making just 3 of 18 shots en route to a pedestrian nine points. The three-time All-Star was so off his game, at one point in the third quarter he found himself wide open staring at his bread-and-butter -- an 18-foot jumper -- and it didn't look like he even wanted to shoot. With no defender near him, Aldridge hesitated, then hoisted a shot that fell short. Afterward, as he twisted around to run back on defense, he gazed up at the rafters in disbelief. It was that kind of night.

To his credit, he snared 14 rebounds and blocked three shots, helping in every area that didn't require him to make a shot.

Which is fitting, considering his statement that the Blazers haven't yet played their best. On a night he didn't shoot well -- nor play anywhere near his best -- Aldridge did enough to help the Blazers win. And although they just swept a three-game trip through Boston, Philadelphia and Charlotte, the Blazers admit they won all three rather ugly, hardly a first this season.

For every 84-point first-half offensive explosion they've had this season (vs. Denver), the Blazers also have had a 42-point half (vs. New Orleans). Their defense has been a revelation, but it's surrendered plenty of 30-point quarters. And while the Blazers have shown resiliency in building a 7-1 record in games they trailed at halftime -- including Wednesday night, when they were down 56-45 -- that's a lot of halftime deficits over 14 games.

"We haven't had perfect games," Matthews said. "We've had games where, if we had mailed it in or hung our heads too long, we could have easily lost. But I think that just shows our resiliency and our confidence in each other and ourselves."

Nobody on the roster is complaining about sporting a 12-3 record while still chasing perfection. When you've won nine in a row and you're salivating for more, that's a sign of maturity.

The Blazers have been here before. They stormed to a surprising 13-2 record last season thanks to an 11-game November win streak. But this time around, the streak is different. This time around, the success isn't a surprise.

This time around, they long for more.

"Last year, we were all excited about the streak," Batum said. "We were like, 'Yeah, we got eight in a row. Yeah, we got nine in a row.' Now we're like, 'Let's get 10.' We think differently now. We're more focused on what's ahead."

Added coach Terry Stotts: "I think last year was a novelty, we took people by surprise. The newness has worn off. I think we're playing games we expect to win and we're doing what we're supposed to be doing."

--Joe Freeman | @BlazerFreeman