As it was the theme for most of the Spurs’ and Trail Blazers’ first-round series, the final matchup was a game of two halves. San Antonio cruised to a huge lead before the break in what seemed destined to be a blowout, only to almost allow a surprising comeback. In the end, the play of De’Aaron Fox on offense late was enough to hold off Portland and close the series for the Silver and Black with a 114-95 win in Game 5.
It was hard to predict a somewhat close game, considering how prepared the Spurs
looked early. One of the big question marks heading into Game 5 was whether Tiago Splitter would continue to start Donovan Clingan or go with the more effective Robert Williams III. Splitter stuck with Clingan, and Mitch Johnson’s guys made him pay for it by hitting jumpers over the paint-bound big man. It helped that the defense was clicking and allowed the home team to push the pace and attack before the Portland defense was settled, but even in the half-court, the Spurs targeted him on guard-to-guard screens to get him off Castle or with hand-offs that resulted in open looks. It wasn’t just Clingan’s fault that San Antonio came out of the gates roaring and built up a significant lead, as the Trail Blazers’ offense bricked threes and seemed to have no way of putting up points consistently. After one, the lead was 12.
The issues continued for Portland on the offensive end in the second, even as Splitter tried to get more offensive talent on the floor after doubling down on defense with Sidy Cissoko minutes earlier. The only guy wearing red that could get buckets consistently was Deni Avdija until turnovers from the Spurs gave the visitors some hope. Soon after the sloppy stretch occurred, however, there was foreshadowing of what would happen late in the game, as De’Aaron Fox took control of the offense away from Castle and settled the troops, creating good shots. There were some mistakes to close the second quarter, as San Antonio often overdribbled in hopes of getting to the rim instead of taking jumpers when open and fouled Avdija despite being incredibly disciplined earlier, but in general, it was close to a perfect half for the home team, which led by 20 heading into the break.
The initial two quarters were fun to watch from a San Antonio perspective, so Splitter made sure to prevent that from happening the rest of the way. The Blazers came out of the locker room with increased physicality, almost daring the officials to call fouls on most plays. They did, especially after the Silver and Black tried to match it. What at one point was a high-paced, fluid affair became mired with constant interruptions and ineffective half-court offense from both teams. The reasons for Portland’s struggles were not surprising: they just couldn’t hit threes despite taking plenty of them. For the Spurs, it was a combination of playing slow and having an erratic Stephon Castle trying to find Wembanyama, which resulted in turnovers and stagnation. It wasn’t a pleasant watch, but in the end, the hosts still managed to win the low-scoring frame by one.
By this point, it seemed like the Blazers, which had tried a lot of different lineups and wasted energy mucking things up in the third, were out of ways to make it a game late. Alas, the Spurs seemed too convinced that the job was done and started to play lazily just as Portland was gearing up to make one last push. Instead of moving their feet, they fouled a lot. Instead of starting their offense early and moving the ball, they walked it up, at one point committing an eight-second violation, while looking lost. Fortunately, De’Aaron Fox was there to bring them out of their stupor with 13 fourth-quarter points. On the other end, Wembanyama made his presence felt with a couple of ferocious blocks that shut the door on the comeback attempt, and that was it. After an immaculate first half in which everything looked easy, San Antonio closed out an ugly second half to advance to the next round.
Game notes
- The Trail Blazers are tough. They are not the most talented team, and their lack of consistent shooting is a major flaw, but they played San Antonio well for most of the series. It will be hard for them to add more shooting without losing their defensive identity, but they could be back in the playoffs next season. The series ended up in a gentleman’s sweep and probably would have been an outright sweep had Wembanyama been healthy, but it will prepare the young Spurs for the challenges ahead.
- Victor Wembanyama only took seven shots, but his impact on the game was massive. He just forces opponents to change their normal matchups, and even when it works to a degree, as it did in Game 5, other problems emerge. Everyone knows how great Wembanyama is on defense, but the fact that his mere presence changes the game on offense when he doesn’t force things is hugely important.
- The guard trio had two standouts: De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper. Fox has been essential to making units work by playing off-ball, but in the last two games reminded everyone that he can be a big-time scorer when he needs to. Harper is such a tenacious defender and terrific finisher that there’s no question whether he belongs on the floor in a playoff game as a rookie. Those two were great, which made up for a largely poor Stephon Castle night.
- Julian Champagnie had his first double-digit scoring game of the series in the clincher. He got free in transition and worked handoffs well, finally preventing the Blazers from limiting his scoring opportunities. On the other hand, Keldon Johnson still couldn’t offer much scoring, finishing in single digits for the fifth time in as many games.
Play of the game
Instead of focusing on clutch plays that shouldn’t have been necessary, here’s Devin Vassell blocking Donovan Clingan at the rim.
Vassell had 10 points in 11 shots and missed all four of his three-pointers. In past seasons, he would have hurt the team if that were his offensive output. This year, however, Vassell has been finding ways to contribute even when he doesn’t have it going on offense.
The Spurs will face the winner of the series between the Nuggets and Timberwolves. Currently, Minnesota is up 3-2 and will host Game 6, but is missing Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo, likely for the rest of the postseason.
