The Portland Trail Blazers did not start off the second half in the way that they wanted. The Blazers lose their third straight for the first time this season as the fall to the San Antonio Spurs 111-109 on Wednesday night. Portland falls to 35-18 on the season and 19-7 at home. The Spurs will improve to 40-15 and improve to an impressive 22-7 on the road.
Well, as if the offense disappearing wasn’t bad enough; the Blazers get their first taste of injury problems this season. Joel Freeland continues to rehab that sprained MCL and won’t be back for a couple of weeks. Meyers Leonard sprained his ankle while practicing yesterday and will be out two-to-three weeks. However, the biggest blow comes in the form of LaMarcus Aldridge. He has been dealing with soreness particularly in the groin area. It has really affected his game as his shooting has been up and down since he got injured in the game against Minnesota on February 8th. Well, after All-Star weekend and getting it looked at, LA will be out one week, hopefully.
Portland has been fortunate all season to not have any injury issues whatsoever aside for a few sprains or tweaks. Portland has been able to play the same starting five all season until tonight.
If this is how the Blazers look and play without LA, then Aldridge please come back. The Blazers hung with the Spurs for most of the game using crafty plays and working for every bucket. With no LA, Portland had to start Dorell Wright at the four, which was a bit puzzling considering most fans probably thought Thomas Robinson would get the start. With another game coming up on Friday, it will be interesting to see if Stotts switches that up at some point or continues to stick with Dorell.
Dorell played 20 minutes and had a pretty solid outing. He recorded 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting, 2-for-4 from three, and 5 rebounds.
The Blazers came out well, as usual, and outscored the Spurs 24-18. However, the Spurs chipped away. San Antonio got huge contributions from Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills who combined for 59 points on 20-for-37 shooting. However, that was not the biggest issue. Portland must have gone into a fridge at the end of the third quarter because they started the quarter 0-for-10. These long, LONG cold spells are really hurting the Blazers and they seem to come at the worst times. It wasn’t that the Blazers were not getting good shots; the ball was just not behaving. Even so, the Blazers came back on tied it up on a Wesley Matthews’ steal, however, Belinelli was able to use a screen to his advantage and swished a three that signaled the game.
Ball movement is becoming an issue, surprisingly. Not only are teams defending the Blazers extremely well, but it seems as if some of the players do not trust the pass as much as they did in the past. One sequence that comes to mind is when Mo Williams dribbled down and pretty much kept dribbling until about the four second mark on the shot clock then quickly passed to Thomas Robinson in the corner for a desperation three that missed horribly. Possessions like that, which were non-existent on the beginning of the season, are starting to creep in. Not only does it throw away a possession, but in a close game like this was, it throws away a huge opportunity, which the Blazers had plenty of tonight.
Now, there were completely new lineups on the floor tonight so I expect there to be some rust or sluggish offense. But, there were moments where Portland just didn’t seem to know what do out there.
Tonight featured Victor Claver seeing some action as he logged seven minutes. Claver displayed some high-IQ play and had a +3 on the night even though he didn’t score a single point. Maybe give him some more time? Stotts will have to at least for a week.
The Blazers’ three-point woes continue as they finished going 7-for-22 and shot just 32% from beyond the arc. Teams are closing out on Portland’s shooters extremely well and even when Portland gets an open look, it bricks. I think they just need to calm down and stop thinking so much about shooting it and go by instinct.
Portland out-rebounded the Spurs 45-40. They also outscored the Spurs in the paint 54-42. This game just came down to a couple of possessions and the Blazers just didn’t get the lucky bounce or the roll.
On a night where Batum had to have a big game and score, he attempted just eight shots. He finished with 8 points on 2-for-8 shooting, 1-for-3 from three, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Games with LA, but especially games without, he needs to score. He missed his first few shots and completely stopped trying to score. When the Blazers are in this situation where they need any kind of scoring, Batum has to continue to find his spots and shoot the basketball.
Damian Lillard had a fantastic game as he finished with 31 points on 13-for-21 shooting, 1-for-3 from three and had 6 assists. Lillard single-handedly kept the Blazers within striking distance. Lillard is getting a lot better at finishing as he had some pretty, pretty lay-ups tonight.
Mo Williams provided a spark as he finished with 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting, 1-for-2 from three and 2 assists.
The Blazers will have a day off before taking on the Utah Jazz Friday night at the Moda Center at 7:00 p.m. PST. If there ever was a game that was a victory on a platter, this would be one. Utah can still surprise you at times, but even without LA, the Blazers should take care of business. My slogan right now is that “I want to care in April”. Let’s hope the Blazers get out of this funk and start winning some ballgames again. Stay tuned!