The San Antonio Spurs dealt with the Portland Trail Blazers in the first of their two-game miniseries as they near their place in this year’s play-in tournament. The Blazers came out with more energy than they had in their 37-point loss to the Spurs nine days ago, but eventually the talent shone through as Silver & Black sped away for a 130-111 win.
Portland came out of the blocks as if they wouldn’t miss their top nine players on their roster by going on an 8-0 run that surprised Spurs, who looked confused without Dejounte Murray on offense. Josh Primo, making his seventh straight start, capitalized on more opportunities on the ball with some nice drives to the rim, including a one-handed poster slam from the baseline. The home team’s dominance began to show when both benches were on the ground, with Zach Collins and Josh Richardson creating a shot on target while the Blazers struggled for a good shot. However, the visitors were able to stay within range by getting some of those hard shots to fall.
In the second, Spurs ran across the floor and scored on the rim with ease while getting candid looks from behind the arc they hit, mostly courtesy of Keldon Johnson. The biggest player on the floor that night was Spur, Jakob Pöltl, so it was no surprise that he was having a blast as he was able to smash shot after shot around the edge. And if San Antonio hadn’t already shown their size advantage, they certainly did when they went with the Collins-Jock Landale lineup and deflected to the high-low action that Portland had no answer to. At the break, Spurs were up 77-49.
Neither team needed any warm-up minutes in the second as both came extremely hot from the outside. Devin Vassell was one to feel his shot early as he scored seven points in under three minutes. The Blazers deserve a lot of credit for continuing to struggle regardless of the outcome and maintaining the deficit between 20 and 30 points throughout the third quarter.
With the Blazers on the verge of cutting the lead below 20, the Spurs upped their intensity and focused early in the fourth to finally pull away and give the starters some extra rest. The final ten minutes were flooded as Spurs gained 19 points.
game notes
- The trap game. Often the second contest of a two-game mini-series can result in a “trap game” for those who won the first, and with Spurs feeling good about that comfortable win it could lead to some complacency in their second game on Sunday . But with just five games to go and the play-ins in, one would hope that San Antonio would come out focused and professional and take the win.
- Dejount Murray. The All-Star was a late scratch for the game with a non-covid illness that came out of the blue. Hopefully it doesn’t hold him back too long and he can be back on the ground for the second game against the Blazers on Sunday.
- Play-In update. San Antonio is in 10th set with a 1-game lead and 5 games to play.
game of the game
There are rightly four or five highlights to choose from, but since Josh Primo is a newcomer it’s only fair that he gets credit for his poster dunk.
Encourage Valuable Player (SVP)
Josh Primo, Josh Richardson, Tre Jones, Lonnie Walker, Jock Landale, Jakob Poeltl & Keita Bates-Diop all had calls for an SVP point. (Yes, that’s everyone who played, but everyone put in solid performances!)
3rd place (1 point): Zach Collins | 25 minutes, 15 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 stls, 2 blocks
In recent weeks, Spurs have started to see the best in their summer recruit as Zach Collins appears to be bouncing back from a 540-day injury layoff. He put up great numbers against his former team, but the best part was his aggressiveness on and off the ball, he was constantly setting up screens and moving, and then when he got the rock he made quick, decisive decisions.
2nd place (2 points): Devin Vassell | 27 minutes, 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 triples
As solid as ever was Devin Vassell. He had shots for him, which wasn’t always the case lately, but in addition to shooting, he was involved in everything that was good defensively.
1st place (3 points): Keldon Johnson | 27 minutes, 21 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 triples
Without Dejounte Murray, it was Keldon who chose the coat as the #1 option and he delivered a great performance. He had six assists when he showed some playmaking but it was the three pointers and the energy he brought that really ensured this was never going to be a contest in the second half.
overall ranking
1st – Dejounte Murray – 121 points
2nd – Jakob Pöltl – 65 points
3rd – Keldon Johnson – 61 points
4th – Derrick White – 51 points
5th – Devin Vassell – 49 points
6th – Lonnie Walker IV – 37 points
7th – Doug McDermott – 16 points
8th – Bryn Forbes – 12 points
9th – Thaddeus Young – 11 points
10th – Jock Landale – 10 points
11th – Tre Jones & Josh Richardson – 7 points
12th – Keita Bates-Diop – 6 points
13th – Josh Primo – 3 points
14th – Drew Eubanks & Zach Collins – 2 points
15th – Devontae Cacok & Joe Wieskamp – 1pt,
Next game: Vs Portland on Sunday
San Antonio will look to continue their play-in race hunt when they face the Portland Trail Blazers in the second contest of their two-game miniseries.