The Sports Xchange
By Stephen Alexander, The Sports Xchange
EditorsNote: minor edits throughout San Antonio 112, Portland 109
PORTLAND, Ore. — The San Antonio Spurs ended a seven-game losing streak at the Rose Garden, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 112-109 on Saturday night.
After going into the fourth quarter down 79-73, the Spurs opened the final period with a 14-0 run.
The Spurs held onto the lead until 40 seconds remained in the game, when Blazers forward Nicolas Batum sank a 3-pointer to make the score 109-109.
Manu Ginobili then buried two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining, and the Blazers missed two shots to tie the game in the closing seconds.
Gary Neal led the Spurs with 27 points, leading a strong bench effort. Ginobili scored 17 points, and Stephen Jackson added 13 points. Among San Antonio’s starters, Tim Duncan had 22 points and nine rebounds, and Kawhil Leonard and Danny Green scored 10 points each.
Batum scored a game-high 33 points. Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge added 29 points. Point guard Damian Lillard had 20 points, and center J.J. Hickson contributed 13 points and 14 rebounds.
The game was knotted at 26-26 after the first quarter.
The Blazers were able to gain some breathing room in the second quarter and went into halftime ahead 52-43.
In the first half, the Blazers were led by Batum’s 16 points. Aldridge and Lillard scored 15 points each.
The Spurs were led by Duncan’s 12 points in the first half. Jackson scored eight points and Neal scored seven points.
With the score tied 10-10 midway through the first quarter, the Blazers went on a 7-0 run that eventually led to a 10-point advantage. Portland would remain in control for most of the half.
Late in the third quarter, the Spurs cut the lead to 67-64 before Portland went on a 10-3 run and ended the period with a 79-73 lead.
The Spurs wound up with a big shooting advantage, as they hit 57.1 percent of their shots to 47.2 percent by the Blazers. In the first half, San Antonio hit half of its shots (17 of 34), while Portland made 51.2 percent (21 of 41).
Portland couldn’t take advantage of 21 San Antonio turnovers in the game. The Blazers gave the ball away 15 times.
NOTES: The Spurs started Patty Mills at point guard in place of Tony Parker, who did not play because of a stomach virus. Mills finished with sevn points and four assists … Blazers guard Wesley Matthews and Aldridge wore stars-and-stripes headbands in support of the U.S. military on Veterans Day weekend.
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