Portland Trail Blazers: Post game analysis from 113 – 110 loss to Spurs

The Portland Trail Blazers played their first back to back tonight against the San Antonio Spurs. In what was a contrast to last nights game against the Mavericks, the Blazers were up by 19 at one point then let the Spurs run them down. The Blazers will be disappointed they blew this lead even though the game was close at the end.

The Portland Trail Blazers now have a two and two record after a painful loss to the Spurs. In an up and down game they struggled to score in the second and third quarters. How did they manage to blow a 19 point lead and then come back to almost win it?

First quarter

An excellent start to the game had the Blazers start on a nine to two run. Anthony Tolliver, who was inserted into the starting lineup and CJ McCollum had threes early on as they started off hot. Though they were struggling to score inside, McCollum and Rodney Hood were able to hit on two more threes as the Spurs took a time out down 19 points to 4. It got out to 23 and 4 before the Spurs scored twice then started trading buckets with the away team. Turnovers were an issue early on as the Spurs dragged it back to 12 as DeMar DeRozan got going. Skal Labissiere had some nice energy minutes off the bench as LaMarcus Aldridge was keeping Hassan Whiteside quiet. A Mario Hezonja three and a Labisserie tip had the lead at 14 at the end of the first.

Second quarter

The second unit were now in the ball game to start the second. Bar a Hezonja three early on, they struggled to score the ball and looked tired on the back to back. They managed keep the lead to 14 five minutes into the second, but a McCollum offensive foul started the rot soon after. DeRozan first had an and one lay-up followed by another steal and a dunk. It was a ten point game soon after and Lillard was having all sorts of problems with the Spurs defense. Defensive dynamos Derrick White and Dejounte Murray were really bothering him on the perimeter and at the rim. Aldridge was also swatting Lillard’s shots as he totalled four blocks in the first half. Both teams traded buckets up until the last minute of the second when Rudy Gay hit a three to cut the deficit to six. Halftime score, Blazers 51 – Spurs 45

Third Quarter

The Blazers struggles continued in this quarter as Bryn Forbes and DeRozan scored quickly to make it a one point game. Nothing was dropping for Lillard but buckets were exchanged as the game was kept close through the start of the third. Another Whiteside turnover at the five minute mark gave a hot DeRozan another dunk. A Terry Stotts timeout couldn’t stop the bleeding as Forbes went to the line not long after. The Blazers were forcing shots, and couldn’t seem to find a way to get open looks or even get to the rim. DeRozan was up to 17 points halfway through the third as the Spurs extended their lead to six points. With McCollum and Lillard both going cold on offense the Blazers seemed to lack depth on that end. The role players were forcing shots as the offense became disjointed. DeRozan had the lead out to ten points before Lillard got a dunk with two minutes left in the third. Silly fouls were also becoming a theme as the Spurs were in the bonus relatively early. Though the Blazers kept the margin to ten they could have brought it closer with smarter decisions on defense. A Patty Mills three pointer finished the quarter with the Spurs leading 82 to 71.

Fourth Quarter

Though the fourth the Blazers kept in touch with some nice play from Simons, the Spurs were able to hit threes straight after with Marco Belinelli and Mills. This pushed the lead to 15 and prompted another Stotts timeout. The Blazers seemed tired and were missing key rotations and giving up offensive boards. White and Murray were terrorizing the Blazers on both ends. It took the lead to get all the way out to 17 before McCollum and Lillard put the jumper away and attacked the rim. McCollum scored four straight before Lillard went to the line and followed this with a rebound plus and one to cut the lead to nine. With only three minutes left he scored again at the rim to cut the lead to seven. It was the Spurs turn to go cold as Lillard hit threes either side of a White trip to the line to make it a three point game. White and Lillard traded buckets again and it was now a three point game with one minute on the clock. Lillard had come alive in the fourth with a brilliant display of shot making. Unfortunately a McCollum miss with 46 seconds on the clock saw him make a silly foul sending Aldridge to the line. Lillard again scored quickly though to cut it to three points. A DeRozan miss kept it at three and the Blazers had four shots at tying the game from three point land in the final 20 seconds. Though all four missed they had an agonisingly close Lillard three rim out at the buzzer. The Spurs take this one 113 – 110.

Going down by three in the end they will be disappointed. After blowing such a big lead the Blazers will feel they left a lot of points on tjhe court with poor shot selection and ill-advised fouls. With only a two-day break before they play away against the Oklahoma City Thunder they will need to address the fact their role players are struggling to impact the game on offense. Now with two wins and two losses they can take some comfort in the fact these have been against tough opponents and all the games have been close affairs. Hopefully they can do better against a weaker Thunder team on Wednesday.