The San Antonio Spurs are coming, simple as that. All this talk about them falling off or finally succumbing to age can be thrown to the side, at least for now. The Spurs were finally able to play their starting lineup from last season in Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter, Danny Green and Tony Parker for just the second time this season. Suffering from injuries this season, the Spurs have never been quite able to get to that dominating level that they were last season.
Well, the Portland Trail Blazers witnessed it first hand in what seemed like a repeat of last year’s Western Conference semi-finals. The Spurs level the Blazers 110-96. The Blazers fall to 30-10 on the season, 12-6 on the road, while the Spurs improve to 25-16 and 14-6 at home.
It is hard to discuss a game where the Spurs completely and utterly outplayed Portland at every turn. San Antonio outscored Portland in every quarter and a few statistics show that the Spurs took care of business and punished the Blazers lethally for it.
Like I said, this was just the second time this Spurs’ lineup has played together this season. With Splitter being out, to Leonard being out with hand problems, to Parker being out with hamstring issues, the Spurs have had to weather the storm and as such have taken a few more bumps and bruises than they normally do. I have already explained the philosophy surrounding this team, so it is no surprise that head coach Gregg Popovich did not seem phased or worried throughout the injury scares. But, it did raise questions as to whether the Spurs could truly compete in the heated Western Conference race. After watching last night’s game, they can and teams should watch out.
At the time of this posting, the Spurs are the seventh seed in the West and just a game and a half behind the LA Clippers for the sixth seed. Now, Zach Lowe and some other analysts have said that the playoff race has already been decided. Oklahoma City, at some point, will get into the playoffs and replace the eighth seed Phoenix or New Orleans, whichever one it is. The Thunder have been struggling to get in, but they have too much talent to miss out completely. It is all a matter of where the teams settle and what the matchups are. There is a huge drop-off in talent from OKC to Phoenix. Now, the question remains, if the Spurs finally turn the buzzsaw on, how far can they get before the regular season ends? They sit eight games out of the first seed and have to climb past some of the most difficult teams in the league on Houston, Dallas, Memphis and, not to mention, roaring Golden State.
The reason I point this all out is that the Spurs played their best basketball of the season against a Portland team that has been surging in the past weeks. Not to mention, Portland gutted out a triple overtime victory over the Spurs in San Antonio in their last meeting. It is safe to say that barring some other injury, the Spurs are going to figure it out and teams should fear them. The Spurs get in that zone where the dismantling and the domination of another team is almost comical. The ball movement, transition defense, great shot selection and getting contributions from the most unlikely candidates all combine into a team that even the best Western Conference will have trouble dealing with. I would rather Portland face Golden State or even Houston rather than the Spurs in the postseason. Again, there is that extra drive and extra gear.
This game was a prime example of going up against an unstoppable force. In the first quarter, Portland shot 60% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. The Spurs shot 56% from the field and 50% from three-point land. The Spurs would go on to outscore Portland by seven in the quarter. Portland was shooting as well as they can shoot. Meyers Leonard did not miss a shot and LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard combined for 15 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Yet, the Spurs shook it off and it looked like it never made a dent. The reason and one of the devastating reasons as to why Portland lost was points off of turnovers.
First off, Portland turned the ball over a whopping 16 times. Again, I mentioned this before, a team will take advantage and this has been a giant black mark in Portland’s resume this season. The Spurs would go on to score 25 points off of those turnovers. Because of the extra turnovers, the Spurs attempted 20 more shots than Portland did! Giving this team extra chances will never end well. The Spurs ultimately won by 14. Think about that for a second. The Spurs gained more points off of turnovers than the Blazers scored in the second quarter. I do not care if you the Philadelphia 76ers, the opposition will beat you at that rate.
More statistics: Portland would get out-rebounded 49-32. The effects and the damage of not having Robin Lopez or Joel Freeland are starting to be felt. Teams at the beginning were not attacking the paint as much and were still attacking Portland as if they had Lopez. In the past couple of weeks, the Lakers come to mind, some teams and coaches have started attacking the paint with impunity and it has led to Portland suffering on the defensive end and giving up more points than normal. The Spurs would go on to outscore Portland in the paint 38-28. With a point guard like Parker who slashes and is an elite driver, Leonard who can get to the rim in two steps and even Manu Ginobili, who is still crafty around the rim, exposed Portland’s weakness and it made all the difference.
The Spurs would go on to out-assist Portland 34-20. 34 assists! Second chance points, the Spurs would outscore Portland 20-5. Fast break points, the Spurs would score 17 points to Portland’s six. It is no wonder that the Spurs had a 23-point lead as their largest lead.
Portland played valiantly and looked good in stretches. In the first half, they kept it close and, honestly, did not get outscored all that much per quarter. The problem was that Portland never made a run of their own to improve their situation. Portland shot 50% from the field and 32% from three. Portland shot a higher percentage from the field than the Spurs, but again, all the statistics above show that there was more to it than that.
Aldridge and Lillard carried that load on the scoring front scoring 24 and 23 points respectively. Lillard would have five assists and Aldridge would provide eight rebounds. Both shot at a decent clip. Aldridge went 9-for-18 and Lillard went 9-for-17. However, the biggest issue in the offensive attack from Portland was the lack of three-point shooting from the backcourt. Lillard and Wesley Matthews combined to go 0-for-8 from the great beyond. Furthermore, Matthews would only take four shots all game and finish with just two points, which he got in the first quarter. Matthews was hounded by Leonard and Green and never was able to shake free. The times he did get an open look, he would have to rush the shot or look for another player to pass it to. The Spurs took Matthews out of the game completely and it hurt, especially with the other problem.
I already harped on Nicolas Batum in my previous post, so I will not do that again. However, Batum needs to produce, we all know this. He finished with just five points on 2-for-7 shooting, 1-for-4 from three with two assists, four rebounds, one steal and one block. Batum seemed energized and more locked in at the beginning of the game and in the second half, on the three straight possessions, drove to the rim in an attempt to get himself going. That is what I hope he starts doing. Starting inside and working his way to a three-point shot. I stand by that I think a three-point shot for Batum’s first attempt is always risky because his mental state, especially shooting-wise is so important for him to do well. His shots lack confidence still, but I was pleased by the little extra energy provided by going to the basket, even though he missed a couple of the attempts.
Lost in the shuffle were the brilliant games from Leonard and C.J. McCollum. Leonard finished with 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting, 2-for-2 from three with three rebounds and two blocked shots. He did not miss a shot and looks extremely confident, fans can feel it. He no longer looks lost and I think it is safe to say that he is getting it. This leaves an interesting question for the Blazers to deal with in the future. With Leonard’s development and improvement, this looks to put Thomas Robinson on the back-burner and, ultimately, expendable. Robinson will be able to get no time if Leonard is starting to play well. Is there a trade in the wind involving Robinson this season?
McCollum finished with 17 points on 7-for-10 shooting, 2-for-2 from three. McCollum just needs consistency in his playing time. Like Leonard, I think something will flip in McCollum because there are flashes of a very talented player. The way he can create his own shot and use a series of unusual offensive moves is so glaring in his skill set. Unfortunately, his best game in a while was overshadowed by the dismantling the Spurs laid on Portland, but do not sleep on McCollum. I ask the same question again, if McCollum starts playing better, does this make Will Barton expendable?
Moving forward, Portland cannot sit and worry about this loss. Coming up, the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies handed the Blazers their worst home loss of the season and Portland looks to not lose three games in a row, which they have not done all season. Memphis will be without Mike Conley, but still have the help of big man Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and newcomer Jeff Green who had an excellent first outing with the Grizzlies. Tip-off is at 6:00 p.m. PST on Saturday. Stay tuned!