Portland Trail Blazers meet the San Antonio Spurs. After a fantastic end to the Houston series, Portland fans and the Blazers had to head back to work on Monday night in game one against the Spurs. Well, San Antonio showed why they are the No. 1 seed as they pummeled Portland 116-92 in a game that was not close from the start, unfortunately.
First off, I have nothing but respect for the Spurs organization. Head coach Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili symbolize what it means to have class in the NBA and they have been able to play some of the best basketball without being flashy. The Clippers have Lob City, Oklahoma City has Kevin Durant and Miami has LeBron, but the Spurs beat you by just playing sound and effective basketball.
The Spurs, or rather Popovich, has a knack for taking players that would otherwise have been sub-par and turning them into all-stars or key components on a championship contending team. A perfect example is Danny Green. This is a player who played 20 games for Cleveland and averaged about 5.8 minutes a game in his rookie season. In last season’s finals, he was a key component in the first five games and broke a record along the way.
This is why I respect the Spurs so much. They don’t play for the cameras or for the fame. They play to win and they will make you look stupid while doing it.
All this to say, Portland has their hands full in this series, but do not necessarily look at game one for an example.
Portland started off slow by not making their first bucket until they were down by eight. They did not score until 8:10 in the first quarter, but it was too late. The Spurs just took the ball and ran with it leaving Portland to wonder what had happened. This is not Houston. Unlike the Rockets, the Spurs actually play defense and they do not give up double-digit leads very often.
This was a blowout game, however, Portland can play a lot better than this and fans and analysts have seen this. Simple lay-ups and attempted three-pointers would clang off as the ball just had the stubbornness to not fall. When Portland would get an open look, it didn’t seem to be in any kind of rhythm and it looked to be rushed. Portland went 5-for-23 and shot just 22% in the first quarter. When was the last time we have seen that? On the other end, the Spurs had a field day. They went 13-for-23 and shot 57% from the field just in the quarter. In my opinion, the Spurs completely outplayed Portland, however, Portland was unusually cold and I would bet the Spurs do not shoot that well regularly.
The Spurs kept the pressure on and outscored Portland 36-23 to erase any kind of comeback situation. The one thing that caught my eye was how quick Popovich called timeouts. One Damian Lillard lay-up and he would immediately want to talk it over. Unlike McHale, Popovich doesn’t let his players “figure it out” and let the momentum start going. He stops it when he feels like it could shift.
Portland outscored San Antonio by two in the entire second half, but obviously it wasn’t enough. Portland needs to take this beating into game two and really punch back. Portland has had success against the Spurs and even won in San Antonio during the regular season. Portland has now seen the real Spurs and now will plan accordingly.
Like I said above, offense was not a friend. Portland went 31-for-82 and shot just 38% for the game. Considering how Portland started, this isn’t that bad. Portland shot 46% in the second quarter and 53% in the fourth quarter. Portland went 4-for-16 from three and shot 25%. Will Barton, of all people, went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. The most telling stat, however, is the assists. Portland only had nine in the game. I’ll just let that speak for itself.
Individually, LaMarcus Aldridge had the quietest monster game of the postseason for Portland. He finished with 32 points on 12-for-25 shooting and 14 rebounds. Unfortunately, LA did not have a whole lot of help. If LA can take this offense into game two, Portland has a shot of still splitting this series.
Damian Lillard struggled offensively finishing with 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting, 0-for-1 from three. The stat that surprises me the most is that he only attempted one three-pointer. The Spurs perimeter defense is nasty.
Portland needs to watch a lot of film and figure something out, especially on Tony Parker. Parker was a wizard and could not be stopped. He finished with 33 points on 13-for-24 shooting. There were numerous times where San Antonio would run the play where Tiago Splitter or Tim Duncan would set a quick screen and Parker would whiz around to take a wide-open mid-range shot. The Blazers, obviously, will need to figure out a game plan in that area.
Shrug it off Blazer fans. Oklahoma City got blown out and it was on their home floor. Game two is on Thursday night in San Antonio at 6:30 p.m. PST. Blazers will not have long to adapt, but they are surely awake now. Stay tuned!