Ever since the playoffs last season, Portland has had something to prove when playing the Spurs. In the second round, San Antonio made them look like a high school team, convincingly winning the series 4-1. But so far this year, the Blazers have taken 2 of 3 from them.

San Antonio is in the middle of their annual rodeo road trip, consisting of nine games away from home, the seventh being against Rip City. They’ve never finished worse than .500 in these games, but are currently 2-4.

The beginning of the game was a shootout. Both teams started off hot, with Duncan leading the Spurs and Batum leading the Blazers. Duncan scored their first eight points, but for the rest of the quarter, they couldn’t put the ball through the net.

Portland built up a quick double-digit lead following a 12-0 run to end the quarter. Batum ended the first 12 minutes of play with 10 points off of two threes, including two rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. They scored 11 points off five San Antonio turnovers, opposed to four points from two Blazers turnovers.

By the end of the first, Portland was shooting 59 percent, and they ended the first half at 55 percent despite Aldridge’s 3 of 11 shooting. The big lead carried through half of the second, but the unstoppable Popovich offense slowly chipped away at this deficit, and the game was soon tied after a 14-2 run by the Spurs’ bench. At halftime, the Blazers had just a one point lead.

The third quarter followed a similar pattern to that of the first. Portland hit a couple threes and formed a tidy 11-point lead. This lasted for much of the quarter. Although they turned the ball over several possessions in a row due to poor passing, the defense managed to hold it together and preserve the lead.

Arron Afflalo and Steve Blake both made a major impact at the end of the third to keep the lead at double digits. Afflalo hit a dagger three in the second and the third, proving his worth to this Blazer team. Blake substituted for Lillard very well, finding open players under the hoop for high percentage shots.

Throughout most of the fourth, the Spurs simply couldn’t bring the game back to single digits. They started a small run thanks to Patty Mills’ hot hand, but Portland responded with a 10-0 run of their own, extinguishing that fire. San Antonio made one last push with a 9-2 run, but the Blazers’ shooting was too good. Wesley Matthews hit consecutive threes, and with around two minutes left in the game, Popovich raised the white flag and pulled all of his starters.

What to take from this game is the performance by Nic Batum and Wes Matthews. Batum finally found his shooting rhythm and in the process dished out nine assists. Matthews finished with 31 points on four threes, a great rebound from his 0 for 7 game against Memphis. All in all, seeing the Blazers revert back to their pre-All-Star game form gives fans everywhere hope for the rest of the season.

  Blazers Spurs
Points Matthews 31 Duncan 20
Rebounds Aldridge 13 2 tied with 8
Assists Batum 9 2 tied with 4
Steals Matthews 3 Leonard 4
Blocks Lopez 2 5 tied with 1
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About the author
Newtons Fourth Law
Portland Trail Blazers writer.