The San Antonio Spurs hosted the Portland Trailblazers Friday evening. The Spurs entered the contest coming off a loss to a struggling Toronto Raptors team. However, Portland dealt with a larger issue, as star point guard Damian Lillard was out straining his hamstring in practice Thursday. After dropping their last two games, Portland was hungry for a win.
Veterans step up
With Lillard out, the bulk of the responsibility would fall on his partner in crime, CJ McCollum, who splashed a three early to give his team a 1-point edge. The Spurs answered back with a run for an 8-point lead midway through the first. Portland continued fighting, though, with veteran Carmelo Anthony draining a leaner at the horn to cut the deficit to 3.
Five minutes into the second period, Anthony drained another jumper that tied things up at 40 apiece. Yet, the Spurs kept applying pressure to take a comfortable 57-48 lead into halftime.
Things only got worse for Portland early in the third, as they found themselves trailing by as much as 16. A thunderous put-back slam from the Spurs’ Drew Eubanks sent a message that San Antonio planned to maintain control. Nonetheless, the Blazers mounted a comeback to keep themselves close by the quarter’s conclusion.
Down to the wire
On the first play of the final frame, McCollum hit a floater to even the score at 85 all. They battled back and forth for the duration, trading baskets for multiple ties and lead changes. With under 30 seconds to play, a layup attempt by Norman Powell was goaltended to put Portland up by a point. In the final possession, San Antonio’s Rudy Gay missed a potential game-winning three. Jakob Poeltl grabbed an offensive rebound for one more opportunity but came up short.
McCollum and Powell combined for 15 points in the final quarter to propel Portland (32-23) to a 107-106 victory over the Spurs (26-28), who fell to 2-7 in the month of April.
Seven players contributed at least 8 points for Portland, including a combined 39 from reserve players Enes Kanter, Anfernee Simons, and Anthony. McCollum led the way for the Trail Blazers with 29 points and 6 assists, while Powell added 22 points.
“To get a win without Dame was very important,” Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “The way we came back, down 16, was important. To find a way to finish a game was important. So, I think there was a lot of positives to take from this game.”
San Antonio showed a balanced effort as well. Former all-star DeMar DeRozan carried the load for the Spurs with 26 points and 10 assists. Dejounte Murray put up a triple-double, tallying 13 points to go with 11 boards and 10 assists. Five other players scored at least 8 points for the Spurs as well, including a combined 45 from Derrick White, Poeltl, and Eubanks.
“We played hard the whole night,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “But down the stretch, too many mistakes on the defensive end and a couple of turnovers.”
Up next
Portland will next take the floor against the Charlotte Hornets Sunday at 4:00 p.m. PST.
