For all the fanfare and enthusiasm that went into the Portland Trail Blazers’ first home playoff game in five years, Game 3 versus the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night amounted to one big squandered opportunity in Rip City.
A squandered 15-point second-half lead. A squandered chance to take advantage of superstar Victor Wembanyama’s absence. A squandered chance to take the driver’s seat in the first-round series. And a squandered atmosphere at the Moda Center.
The Blazers’ joyous postseason homecoming
crashed back to earth in a deflating 120-108 defeat. Now Portland looks ahead to Game 4, trailing 1-2 with its back against the ropes versus the heavily favored Spurs.
“Losses like this piss you off,” Blazers center Robert Williams III said. “These are the ones you lose sleep over.”
“The game was ours to take,” Blazers All-Star Deni Avdija added.
Before all that disappointment and lost sleep, Friday’s matchup carried the tenor of a celebration. After years of rebuilding, losing and scattered empty seats, the semi-dormant Blazers fanbase rose to life again. The sellout crowd of 20,438 broke out in spontaneous chants of “Let’s Go Blazers!” and rained boos down upon the Spurs and referees all game. It was the type of electricity that taught this young writer the difference between an exciting hot streak in January and Playoff Basketball. It was beautiful to see.
“It’s about time,” a friend in attendance texted about the revitalized atmosphere before tipoff.
For two and a half quarters, the party looked like it would last all night. Veteran guard Jrue Holiday was putting together one of his best performances as a Blazer. Third-year guard Scoot Henderson was continuing to be a postseason revelation. And the Blazers defense tightened the screws to seize an 82-67 lead with 5:09 left in the third quarter.
But, led by the young guard duo of Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle and a small-ball lineup, the Spurs stormed back to flip the game on its head. San Antonio erased the deficit with a 21-5 run to enter the fourth quarter leading 88-87. Then they threw an early knockout punch with a 19-2 run, taking a 112-97 lead with 4:05 remaining. Castle was deadly with 33 points while the rookie Harper dazzled with 27 points and 10 rebounds on 9-12 shooting — both jawing at defenders after buckets. By the final minutes, the once-electric building was so quiet the loudest noise came from the San Antonio bench. The Spurs didn’t just cut the music. They took a bat to the jukebox.
In the aftermath, the Blazers offered various explanations for the pivotal Playoff meltdown. Blazers acting head coach Tiago Splitter and several players cited San Antonio’s physicality, which shut off Portland’s offensive rebounding and bogged down their offensive attack.
“All of them, they were more physical than us,” Splitter said. “Rebounding, 50/50 balls. That was the game. And they shot better.”
“Was I kind of pissed off at us, including myself?” Williams said. “Yeah, because that’s what we hang our hat on — the intensity, the defense, the rebounding. All of that.”
Williams also pointed to the team’s lack of composure. As the momentum swung and the Blazers began to reel, the veteran center said they expended too much energy complaining to officials and talking trash with Spurs players. Henderson got a technical for taunting Harper after a driving layup late in the third quarter. Blazers sub Sidy Cissoko had to urge teammate Toumani Camara to stop arguing with refs about a late-game foul that Portland’s defensive ace couldn’t believe was upheld following a challenge. At various times, Avdija and Henderson attacked the defense, then pleaded for whistles that never came. As the Blazers offense stalled and the Spurs extended their lead, the frustration bubbled over.
“We kind of let them get in our head a little bit,” Williams said. “It’s alright to jaw, but keep your composure, and keep doing what got you there. So I feel like we gotta match their intensity and also keep our head.”
Portland’s All-Star pointed a lot of the blame to himself. Avdija finished with 19 points and nine assists, but he shot just 3-15 from the floor (12-16 FTs) and missed eight shots in the paint.
“We had the lead, and we didn’t sustain it,” Avdija said. “Honestly, a lot of it is on me. I take the responsibility. I gotta be better.”
While Avdija shouldered the blame as Portland’s best player, he was far from the only Blazer who struggled on Friday. Outside of 29 points from Holiday, 21 points from Scoot and the all-around activity of Williams (11 points, nine rebounds), no other Blazers had it going offensively.
After a deflating Game 3, the Blazers don’t have much time to lick their wounds. Portland hosts San Antonio for Game 4 on Sunday afternoon, and the prospect of Wembanyama returning to the court looms over the series once again. If Friday night was a golden opportunity missed, Sunday might as well be a must-win for the No. 7 seed.
“This loss hurts, but we got another one Sunday, so you can’t really hang your hat on it too low,” Holiday said. “Maybe take it on the chin tonight, and then tomorrow we gotta get back to work.”
Even with an early 12:30 p.m. tip on Sunday, Splitter wants the fans to bring it again, too:
“I just feel bad that we couldn’t bring a W. The fans were amazing. They brought the energy. They were there with us. And we’re gonna meet again Sunday. So we’re gonna need that push again. It’s gonna be an early game, so have a cup of coffee before the game and let’s bring the energy.”
