The Portland Trail Blazers gave away their chances of winning the first-round series against the San Antonio Spurs, along with the greater part of their dignity, in a 114-93 loss on Sunday afternoon. For the second straight game, the Blazers built an enormous lead in the first half, then spent the second half frittering it away like a drunken Dunkin’ Donuts vendor. It was the best of times and the worst of times for Portland, bundled into the same game.
Likely those times, good or bad, will not last
much longer this season. San Antonio now leads the series 3-1 with the next game in their home arena. If Portland sees another home game, they’ll be fortunate.
Here are some of the factors that decided the outcome. Like the game, it’s equal parts praise and angst.
Rim Rockin’
The Blazers had one clear mission heading into this game: attack the rim. It was a huge contrast from Game 3—even the good parts—when Portland appeared to accept jump shots passively against an active Spurs defense. Portland took no prisoners, going hard to the hoop and daring San Antonio to stay in front of them. For the most part, the Spurs didn’t.
In the first half, the Blazers’ shot chart looked like a giant ink blot in the restricted area. They made 10 shots in that circle alone, all dunks or layups, severely boosting their occasionally-impoverished offense. 58 points at halftime was their reward.
Key to this approach was an unabashed acceptance of physicality. The Blazers are generally bigger than their Spurs counterparts, more muscled, perhaps more fierce. Portland didn’t mess with the refs, didn’t mess around in their own heads, and didn’t mess much with defenders either. It was charge hard, full speed ahead, absorb contact from the little guys, then finish or get fouled.
Another key difference: the Blazers used their interior drives to set up three-point shots instead of trying to spread the floor with threes and then driving. This led to hot streaks from distance being part of the solution instead of the prerequisite for salvation. The contrast was marked: 7-14 shooting beyond the arc in the first two periods.
On this backbone Portland built a 17-point lead in the first half. Their second quarter was as impressive as anything we’ve seen all season.
Then the rally towels hit the fan.
Third-Quarter Collapse
Remember that 17-point lead at intermission? The Blazers gave it most of it back in the first four minutes of the third period, getting away from most everything they succeeded in earlier.
- After snagging 20 points in the restricted area alone in the first half, Portland finished the game with 38 total paint points, ceding 52 to San Antonio.
- After going 7-14 beyond the arc in the first half, the Blazers shot 3-14 in the second. San Antonio shot, and hit, more threes in the game than the Blazers did, a cardinal sin for Portland.
- After tallying 58 points in the first half, the Blazers managed only 35 after halftime.
- Rebounds dwindled to nothing. Turnovers skyrocketed. (More on this below.)
- The defense gave up 73 second-half points to a Spurs team that couldn’t miss. San Antonio hit 9 shots in the paint in the fourth quarter alone. The Blazers hit 5 shots total in the final period.
You have to hand it to this team: when they turn off, they turn OFF. It’s less flicking a light switch and more the circuit blew and the fuse box is smoking. Suddenly they’re lofting foolish jumpers, making ridiculous passes, and losing all the ground they gained on defense throughout the game.
The only thing that Portland’s mystifying play can really be compared to is the quality of NBA broadcasts in this new, stream-heavy era. We’ve all experienced feeds from ESPN and Amazon (in their glorified apps) stopping and starting, cutting out, and buffering continuously. That’s exactly how Portland conducts themselves: everything is good until they freeze and stall, leaving a choice between total reboot and staring slack-jawed at nothingness.
The problem is, the Spurs are just like the NBA hierarchy. The league doesn’t care about consumer experience. They just want their money. The Spurs don’t care about Portland’s foibles. They just want their win. And boy, did they get it.
Unfortunately, this is the era we live in. If you’re a Blazers fan this year, you just have to live with it and hope that it turns out OK.
It didn’t today. When the smoke cleared, the Blazers gave up the largest loss in NBA playoffs history for a team leading by 15 or more points at halftime. That’s not good, right? But that’s so Portland in 2025-26.
Saving Grace
It’s hard to remember right now, but Robert Williams III played 59 games this season, approximately equaling the 61 he played in the prior three years combined. That’s all been erased by his playoffs performance against the Spurs. Williams was at the forefront of Portland’s physical play. He was everything but a demon getting around the court, bumping BODIES when he arrived in the vicinity of any San Antonio player. That combination of mobility and aggression is exactly what the Blazers needed to channel against a superior opponent, or any opponent really. It’s what makes them great.
Williams had 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 26 minutes today.
Also seldom remembered: Williams’ contract expires this season. He’s almost certainly played himself into money from someone with this postseason display. That might be the Blazers themselves. If not, other teams are no doubt watching.
Disappearing Center
By contrast, Donovan Clingan continues to look a bit lost out there on the floor. He produced 5 points, 6 rebounds, and a block in 14 minutes. He’s taking his three-point shot confidently. That’s the only thing that looks semi-sure about his game. (Even then, the Spurs were happy to let him try them. He shot 1-6 from the field, 2-10 overall. All you need to know about his stat line is 10 shots in 14 minutes. That’s not his game.)
On defense, Clingan appears to be guarding areas rather than going at opponents aggressively as is his usual practice. He looks like he’s occupying the court rather than ruling it, trying not to get burned instead of trying to make plays. This isn’t Prime Clingan at all.
Clingan had moments, but he needs to recapture his customary surety, if nothing else because the Blazers need all hands on deck.
Deni Bounces Back
Deni Avdija bounced back from a disastrous Game 3 with 36 points on 8-14 shooting, 2-3 from distance, and 8-9 from the arc. Avdija seemed committed to driving, spearheading Portland’s attack as he needs to do. San Antonio sent their entire roster to stop him. He only needed a sliver of room to get past them and into the threat zone.
Victor Wembanyama at the end of the drive and/or getting pinched into a turnover by double teams were the only things that stopped Deni from getting his tonight. Great response to a missed opportunity on Friday.
Where Was Scoot?
After a fantastic set of games at the opening of the series, Scoot Henderson disappeared tonight. He shot 0-7 for 0 points and 2 assists in 27 minutes. His defense wasn’t sharp at all. The ESPN broadcast crew was openly pointing out his mistakes and suggesting Head Coach Tiago Splitter remove him from the game at one point.
It was a rough outing. Like the rest of the team, when Scoot goes dim, he’s all the way gone. Sigh.
Haunted by Turnovers
After a largely mistake-free first half, Portland ended up committing 18 turnovers in the game followed by 29 San Antonio points. That’s not an unusual amount. It’s not even fatal, necessarily. But the timing of the miscues was unfortunate in the extreme.
A few came very early in the second half, right when the Blazers wanted to extend their momentum and prevent San Antonio from narrowing the lead. No such luck. Even more came in the midsection of the fourth period, exactly when the Blazers were trying to cut into the lead that the Spurs had built. No such luck.
Every time Portland had a critical possession, it felt like a turnover in the making. Portland didn’t lose the game as much as hand it over.
How bad was this issue? Remember that first-half shot chart that looked like someone spilled an inkwell in the lane? The bottle was dry in the fourth period. Portland got off 11 field goals total in the final frame. San Antonio made 12. It’s hard to win that way.
This problem has plagued the Blazers all season long. It’s like trying to run a marathon with a ball and chain attached to your ankle. The Spurs super-glued that anklet to the floor tonight just when the Blazers wanted to hit their stride, making the loss inescapable.
Wembanyowza
Victor Wembanyama returned in this game and made a decisive difference. His presence in the lane in the second half was enough to keep Portland ducking and passing the rock to the perimeter. Wemby had 7 blocks, 4 steals, 11 rebounds, and 27 points off of repeated dunks. His presence in the paint on offense kept De’Aaron Fox single-covered. Fox finished the game with 28 points and 7 assists.
Epitaph
And that’s that. Portland will have one more chance to turn the narrative on Tuesday. But with the Spurs looking like they’re playing for a title and the Blazers like they’re playing for the last Michelob Ultra, that seems unlikely.
Game 3 and Game 4 of this series were both winnable. Portland not coming up with either of them shows everything you need to know about the state of this team right now.
While the Blazers retool this summer, the party line will be that they made the playoffs. That’s 100% accurate. But they were not prepared to play there in any serious way. You cannot take control of a critical game—let alone two—and then give it back with so little provocation while claiming to be a mentally serious team. The Spurs are more talented than the Blazers but they’re no older, no more experienced, and no more playoffs-tested. San Antonio made Portland look like bumbling, stumbling kindergartners when it counted. That’s not a lesson; that’s a referendum.
This kind of outcome, with the door open and the team unable to step through it, should cause the entire organization and every member of it to take a serious look in the mirror. Pats on the back should be perfunctory and spare. The need for change should be obvious.
The road ahead is demanding. Portland still has future draft assets in the offing. They have legitimate options of keeping them long-term or trading for short-term gain. Either one works. But the idea that incremental change in this roster will bring success can go by the wayside now. The most accurate word to describe the performance in the last two second halves is, “Helpless.” That’s a word you never want associated with a professional sports team. And it isn’t going away just by wishing it so.
At the start of the season, we said that the Blazers were hoping to prove that their rebuild was over, that it was time to win. They succeeded in a way. They won more games. But it seems clear that the rebuild phase isn’t complete. Phase One might be done, but there’s another phase coming. The only question left now is how many games they have yet to play before we get there.
Up Next
Game 5 between the Blazers and Spurs will commence at 6:30 PM, Pacific on Tuesday evening.
