The Portland Trail Blazers first playoff game since June 3, 2021, ended in a 111-98 loss at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs. A big offensive effort from Deni Avdija was overshadowed by the amazing Victor Wembanyama, who delivered everything Blazers fans feared and more. Avdija led the Blazers with 30 points, followed by Scoot Henderson with 18. No one else for the Blazers could manage more than 11.
Both teams came out with tempo and energy like you’d expect for the playoffs. Much of the Blazers’
early scoring went through Avdija, who tallied a quick seven points, while San Antonio launched a more balanced attack. Portland’s defense was good when it was good, forcing a fair number of low-percentage shots with no one from Texas anywhere near the basket to contest the rebound. When San Antonio was able to find the open man though, they were able to make the Blazers pay from deep. Wembanyama going 2-2 from beyond the arc in the first quarter was the last thing the Blazers wanted to see. On the offensive end, the Blazers were clearly trying to make progress penetrating the lane, with decidedly mixed results. Penetration helped generate some open-ish looks from outside though, but Portland wasn’t able to cash in at the rate they would have liked. San Antonio built a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but the Blazers were able to cut it to five… until Keldon Johnson hit a buzzer-beater from deep to make it 30-22 for the Spurs at the end of the first quarter.
Portland opened the second quarter largely keeping pace, but it felt like the Blazers were working harder for their points than San Antonio. Give the Blazers defense credit for making things difficult, keeping the Spurs within a long arm’s reach. Unless the offense could find a groove though, the signs were there that this could get out of hand. De’Aaron Fox spurred on the Spurs, and the lead extended to 16. A Jrue Holiday drive, a drawn charge from Toumani Camara, and a tip dunk from Robert Williams III thankfully stopped the run. An Avdija successful and-1 got it down to seven. A small amount of regression from there saw the half ending 59-49 for the Spurs. Portland shot 25% from deep and 40.4% from the floor for the half, with Avdija leading the Blazers with 19 points, the only player from Rip City in double figures. Wembanyama finished the half with 21, including going 3-4 from three. The most encouraging news for the Blazers was that they only had three turnovers in the half. Not a half that the visitors will cherish, but they were in the game on the road in their fist playoff game in five years.
The start of the second half for the Blazers was electric. A pair of threes from Holiday and Henderson followed by a steal and layup from Henderson made it a two-point game in a big hurry. Just what the Blazers needed, some scoring from someone other than Avdija. Much of that good work was squandered though when the Blazers committed three turnovers on consecutive possessions. Then the poor shooting returned for Portland, while the Spurs found the range, bringing the lead back to 11. A knock to Avdija when he collided with Williams caused him to head to the bench in obvious discomfort, and momentum was suddenly with San Antonio. The lead for the Spurs ballooned to 17 on the back of ever-improving three-point shooting. An out-of-nowhere dunk in traffic from Jerami Grant shortly before the buzzer settled the score at the end of three quarters at 87-72. Portland was on life support, especially with Avdija’s status at the time undetermined.
The good news for the Blazers is that Avdija returned to the court for the start of the fourth quarter. The bad news was… everything else. San Antonio turned up the volume to 11, while the Blazers struggled on both ends of the court. The Spurs extended the lead to 21 points, and it looked like the excitement for the evening was over. Give the guys credit though, they never gave up and cut the lead to 11 at one point, but that was as close as they could come.
Blazer of the Night
Deni Avdija was obviously the standout, finishing with 30 points on 12 for 21 shooting along with two made threes for 66.7% shooting from deep. When Avdija penetrated, he had gravity, but his kick-outs were all too often followed by a teammate’s miss. He’ll need more help in the games to come if the Blazers want to mount a challenge to the Spurs.
Stat of the Night
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Blazers didn’t shoot well. Taking the dishonors for stat of the night is 10 for 38 shooting from deep for 26.3%, but not far behind is the 42.9% mark from the field. That just won’t get it done.
What We’ll Remember
Victor Wembanyama. It’s just patently unfair for a 7’4” dude to go 5 of 6 from beyond the arc, with two-and-a-half times as many makes as any Blazer. He finished with 35 points, but honestly the San Antonio coaches have some ‘splainin to do about why they ignored him on the offensive end for large stretches of the game. The Blazers are fortunate in this regard, as it looked like Wembanyama could have easily had 60 points.
Up Next
Game 2 will be in San Antonio on Tuesday at the awkward time of 5:00 PM PDT.
