A deeper look: Portland Trail Blazers vs. San Antonio Spurs
The Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs meet on Friday night, with both teams surging toward expected playoff berths. Portland is in command of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference, rolling to a 20-6 start and a 7.5-game lead over the second-place Oklahoma City Thunder. San Antonio is pacing itself for the postseason, sitting fourth in the Southwest Division at 17-9, 4.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies.
Portland is a team on the rise, hoping to build on its promising postseason run in 2013-14. The Blazers beat the Houston Rockets in the quarterfinals last season, only to be bounced in the second round by the Spurs in five games. Portland is built around a young nucleus of power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, point guard Damian Lillard and center Robin Lopez. With third-year coach Terry Stotts at the helm, Portland appears poised to make a push toward the NBA’s upper crust.
The question with the Blazers is are they merely good, or on the threshold of being a true contender. While games in December don’t give you that answer, they can provide a barometer. On Friday, Portland will visit the Spurs only four days after beating them 108-95 at home. San Antonio rested a multitude of important cogs in that game however, including Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter.
Through 26 games, Portland has beaten few top teams. Of their 20 wins, the only gold-star wins are victories over the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and Dallas Mavericks, along with a resting San Antonio team. Still, Portland has been dominant against the underbelly of the league, sporting a 15-2 record against teams with a losing record (as of Thursday evening).
San Antonio is the defending champion and has nothing on its mind but repeating. The Spurs are seventh in the West right now at 17-9, 5-5 in their last 10 games. For Gregg Popovich’s group, the regular season is nothing more than a casual dress rehearsal for a franchise that is the model of consistency. Throughout Duncan’s career with the Spurs, which began in 1997, the future Hall of Fame forward has not failed to win 50 games in a campaign, barring the strike-shortened year of 1999. By the way, San Antonio won its first NBA championship that season.
The Spurs have displayed their typical balance, with five players averaging in double-figure scoring. Even more impressive is Popovich’s handling of his aging stars. Popovich is using the entire roster, with every man playing at least 10 minutes per game except for Jeff Ayres, who is at 9.1 minutes.
Friday’s contest is more important to San Antonio from a standings standpoint. However, Portland could use the confidence boost, knowing it can beat good teams on their home floor. It is the type of game that helps us through the long, cold winter of an NBA season.
For odds on the game, check out our NBA odds page.
