罚球，三个发球给另一个马刺损失

The lottery-boundPortland Trail Blazersweren’t about to beat the playoffs-seekingSan Antonio Spurs周日下午。他们也不是。波特兰在一场比赛中的比赛中摔倒了_113-92。损失在联盟中的第五次最糟糕的记录和2022年的最佳位置保持燃烧者NBA Draft, but the game also had some interesting points.

If you missed the action, you can find ourquarter-by-quarter recap here. After that, here are a few other notable things.

Interior Defense

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak when it comes to Portland’s interior defense. It’s hard to watch these players make essentially correct moves and rotations in the lane, mostly for naught. The Spurs looked down and Portland’s defenders and said, “Yeah? Now what?” With just a little size and intimidation, this defense would look better than it has in years. It’s not there, of course, so the actual effect is limited.

Exterior Defense

关于上述一段的犯罪部分是，燃烧者几乎牺牲了覆盖三分球的借口，以便追求他们的泳道第一防守计划。San Antonio在所有游戏中都很开放。这是一个谜语，无论他们今年使用了什么阵容，都能解决。如果其他团队没有管理它，你就会绝望。

A general lack of length and lateral speed is likely the culprit. The few Blazers who combine both don’t have enough experience or infrastructure support to make it count. These qualities should be high on Portland’s list this offseason if they plan to make any statements on the defensive end.

圣安东尼奥14-42超越今天的弧。,“s a mediocre percentage, but the three became their lifeline whenever they needed to push ahead. The fact that they attempted 42 shows you how wide open they were.

What Can Brown Do For You?

Greg Brown III-Pointer was hot tonight, shooting 4-5 from distance. His three-point shooting was one of the only consistent factors on offense for Portland. He’s sporting amazing-looking goggles now. They appear to have transformed him from Clark Kent into Superman. If Brown III develops a bankable outside shot, insert wide-eyed happy expression here.

Not Picky

Lack of big men and lack of continuity have conspired to rob Portland of one of their best weapons: the screen play. Gone are the days when Jusuf Nurkic would set a good pick up top to set up multiple scoring lanes. Drew Eubanks is Portland’s best option for screen setting, and half the time his guards don’t use it well. When Eubanks is out, screens are practically nonexistent. That leaves Portland players going iso against the opposing defense. They just can’t do that. When the opponent is silly and sends help, the Blazers make the right pass, getting a good look. But it doesn’t take opposing defenses long to figure out they don’t need to help, as approximately zero Blazers scorers can create space one-on-one. When everybody stays home defensively, Portland doesn’t have the means to make them move and the offense goes pfffffftttttt.

Free Throws

As if the advantage at the arc and defensively weren’t enough today, the Spurs also shot 23-30 at the foul line, giving them a +13 advantage in points off of free throws. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Portland. They might have held it close shot-for-shot, as San Antonio’s offense came in fits and starts. But Portland’s defenders got handsy and swipesy. The refs didn’t let them get away with it at all. Those extra points for the Spurs were too much to overcome.

Up Next

BoxScore.

The Blazers head to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder at 5:00 PM, Pacific on Tuesday night.