Blazers go 0-for-Texas, lose third in a row, fall to Spurs, 116-105

With the loss, the Blazers failed to secure home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. There are just two games left in the season.

The Portland Trail Blazers took on the Spurs Saturday night at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. It was the third and final game of a Texas road trip during which they lost in head-scratching fashion to the terrible Dallas Mavericks and almost but not quite completed an improbable comeback against the Houston Rockets.

And despite the return of Damian Lillard (33 points) from an ankle injury that caused him to sit out the Houston game, the Blazers (48-32) still couldn’t locate their Lone Star State mojo.

They lost all three games on the Texas trip.

Here are some of the highlights — and lowlights — of the loss to the Spurs (46-34).

Blazers First Half

Here’s who took the court for both the Spurs and the Blazers:

Good signs early: Both CJ McCollum and Lillard hit their shots early. Lillard hit his first two shots — both threes — and didn’t appear to be showing any ill effects from that ankle injury.

Players from both squads were shooting with a high degree of accuracy in the first quarter.

And after one quarter, the Blazers had a one-point lead.

The second quarter was much like the first, although the shooting percentages for both teams started to come back down to earth. Both teams continued to play hyper-aggressive defense and an up-tempo style of play that was at least a little out of character.

Wade Baldwin IV once again played tough, aggressive defense — much like he did against the Houston Rockets — but he did have to leave the game halfway through the second quarter with three fouls.

This was nutty, but it worked out:

At the half, the Blazers had stretched their lead to two points.

Blazers Second Half

Rough start to the third quarter:

But as it has for most of the season, the Blazers’ defense kept them close.

After three quarters, the Spurs had the lead.

The Blazers didn’t seem to have an answer for Rudy Gay, who would finish the game with 16 points off the bench, or for LaMarcus Aldridge (28 points, eight rebounds, four steals).

And then Manu Ginobili scored eight consecutive points to give the Spurs a 12-point lead.

Unfortunately, McCollum wasn’t very effective from the floor late. He would finish the game with 17 points, but only shot 7/19 from the floor.

Next: Trail Blazers’ magic number and their magic leader

The Spurs, however, shot the lights out (47/84; 56 percent).

Jusuf Nurkic had 12 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Evan Turner was very effective (18 points on 8-of-12 shooting). And Meyers Leonard played well (nine points; and he was 2/2 from three.)

Three Fun Takeaways From A Not-Fun Game

No. 1

No. 2

No. 3

Next up for the Blazers: Monday night in Denver. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. PDT.