An ugly night of basketball unfolded in the Portland Trail Blazers’ return to the Moda Center following a four-game road trip, as Victor Wembanyama and the visiting San Antonio Spurs stomped the Blazers to win 125-103.
Deni Avdija led Portland with 15 points, four rebounds and one assist. Scoot Henderson chipped in 13 points. Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Yang Hansen managed a double-double off the bench, totaling 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Wembanyama led the Spurs with a game-high 29 points, shooting 9-for-13 from the field 3-for-6 from the arc and 8-for-9 from the free line, pulling down seven rebounds and recording three assists. Six Spurs scored in double-figures.
Portland struggled mightily in the first quarter, shooting 1-for-11 from the arc, and didn’t make its first three until the final seconds via an Avdija three off a Lillard assist. The Blazers were 6-for-24 overall in the period (25 percent), clearly dettered by Wembanyama’s presence.
The Spurs led by as much as 10 points in the first quarter, but they didn’t shooting very well, either, registering a 33.3 percent clip, sinking 3-of-11 3-pointers. San Antonio entered the penalty early, however, allowing the Blazers shoot 7-for-10 from the line, sniffing would-be momentum and ensuring the lead didn’t grow too much.
Despite boasting one of the better second-quarter offenses in the league, Portland woes continued early in the first few minutes of the period, a suffocating San Antonio defense holding the Blazers to a sinlge field for nearly three minutes. But the period soon transformed to slew of — what some would call questionable — calls made against the Blazers, the fans inside Moda Center at one chanting, “Ref you suck!”
A 10-0 run by the Spurs — entirely fueled by free throws — occurred a little over halfway in the second quarter, Portland committing five fouls over the span of 44 seconds. The Spurs shot 19 free throws in the frame, making all but one.
Ultimately outscored 42-29 in the quarter, and trailing by 15 points at the half, the Blazers failed to to contain San Antonio’s 45-point offensive barrage in the third period. The Spurs shot an efficient 66.7 percent (18-for-27) and 45.5 percent from three (5-for-11), nabbing four offensive rebounds to score nine second chance points in the quarter, leading by as much as 35.
Portland, meanwhile, didn’t shoot poorly per se (10-for-20 and 4-for-10 from three), but its zero offensive rebounds and inability to force more than two San Antonio turnovers meant many one-and-done possessions and no second chance opportunities.
By the final quarter, garbage time had begun with Blazers down 35 points. It was the only period the Blazers won.
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