HOW THE HELL WAS PORTLAND EVEN IN THIS GAME?True and very weird. In a 2 point game the team stats usually end up equally close. Not tonight. The Spurs outshot the Blazers 51% to 40%. Well Portland had to be scorching from deep. Nope. The Blazers were a dismal 24% to 35% for the Spurs. It must have been one of the "crash the boards" games for Portland. No again. The Spurs crushed Portland by 15 in rebounding, 53-38. Portland must have had the refs in their pockets and shot an extra 20 free throws. The refsCERTAINLYwere not favoring the Blazers, but they did manage to 8 more freebies in the game. The Spurs even blocked 9 shots to Portland's 2.

The statistical differences above should have resulted in a 10-15 point loss. Portland stayed in this game because it brought energy and focus. San Antonio built a lead riding Gasol and Aldridge to 32 first half points on 75% shooting. Portland did not panic, not did they lose their head as they could not buy a foul call. The ball was moving on offense and there were no turnovers. If Portland couldn't stop San Antonio from making the shots they got, they needed to force them not to get as many shots. The Blazers do not turn other teams over much, but they forced 22 huge turnovers tonight. They tightened the defense in the 2nd half, holding the Spurs to 39 second half points. In fact, as Portland crept back into the game the only thing that stood between Portland and a 10 point lead was CJ being 0-11. McCollum finally got it rolling when Dame got hurt and the hunt was on for the rest of the game.

SO DAME AND CJ WERE SUB-PAR. WHO WAS THE STAR?有几个候选人。埃德·戴维斯继续obliterate the boards in his short doses. Turner shook off his truck-bombed swimming pool and shot a very efficient 7-11. Napier continued his great play with 14 points (shouldn't he have been in for more of crunch time?) But the player who carried Portland through much of this game was Aminu, despite his modest 3-11 shooting. I am not yet convinced about some of his iso attacks. But Chief was a game-changer defensively, especially in the 2nd half. He pressured and denied LaMarcus throughout the 3rd and 4th quarters. He had 4 steals and a blocked shot. He pushed the ball. Aminu played 35 minutes of high intensity, high IQ basketball and had zero turnovers. He was the heart of this team tonight.

SAN ANTONIO WAS RIPE TO GET BEATEN TONIGHT.False. Sure there was no Kawhi or Parker. Forbes and Murray sound more like CPA's then a starting backcourt. But Pop has created and maintained something special with this franchise. Players get absorbed and created and coached up into a system that always seems better than the sum of its parts. They play tough defense without bailing you out with fouls. They know their roles on offense. Pops will chop the game to pieces with his timeouts when he sees things going wrong. He can combine a too old Argentinian with a too short Australian and a too slow ex-point guard playing power forward and somehow it all fits together. This team can win 50 games in its sleep.

FINAL GRADE: The obvious concern is Lillard's bruised leg. He really should not have even been on the court late. He is a warrior, but may need at least a one game rest to recover. Nurkic hit a couple of long shots tonight. So he is succeeding with rolling to the basket and his jump shot. His post game has still been iffy. There are no moral victories, but this was yet another coin flip game against an elite Western foe. The 3rd quarter comeback is something we came to expect last season. It is nice to see its return. The Blazers have now lost 10 point and 6 point 4th quarter leads; that is something we have to hope doesn't continue this season. This was a sterling defensive battle between to eventual play-off teams (1st round opponents?). A-