They certainly hear the noise around the team and credit to them for coming out hungry. This team was never going to roll over and die. They forced 14 turnovers, dished out 34 assists and even banked in a three-pointer at one point. The Blazers shot the ball extremely well (53%), got out in transition (17 fast break points) and pounded the basket (70 points in the paint). From the opening tip, Portland played with energy and purpose, as if personally challenged by the awkward clashing of short and long-term organizational goals. Most of the guys still remaining on the roster do not have guaranteed contracts for next season, and they played like it. Tonight in particular it was the polar opposite. Goonies Never Say Dieĭon’t think that tanking translates to effort. The Blazers’ top weapon over that stretch, rookie Shaedon Sharpe, gave a curtain call before his absence during crunch time of Tuesday’s loss at Memphis and was held out of tonight’s game entirely with “left knee tendinopathy.” Surely a coincidence. The Blazers, however, sit at 33-47, just one game in the win column behind Orlando, Indiana and Washington. At 21-59, San Antonio has already locked up the best lottery odds possible for any team, which are shared by the bottom three teams in the NBA. The Spurs are the Bane to the Blazers’ Batman, having lived in the darkness of tanking since the dawn of the season, while Portland has merely adopted losing by design over the past couple months or so. With two remaining contests against playoff teams highly motivated to win, San Antonio presented the biggest threat to those odds that Portland would face during the home stretch of the season. While there were little competitive stakes to the game, the win has big implications for the chances of the Blazers potentially landing the number 1 pick the 2023 draft. Now, here are some observations about the game: Last Is the New First If you missed the game, read our instant recap here. Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie both added 24 points apiece. The Spurs were led by Keith Bates-Diop who had a game-high 25 points, 6 boards and 4 assists. Drew Eubanks also had a big night with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks. Kevin Knox II led Portland with 24 points off the bench. The score remained close from wire-to-wire, with Portland holding 9-point advantage midway through the fourth quarter before a late San Antonio run flipped the script. The term “track meet” is as apt as ever, as both teams played with feverish pace and very little attention to defense. The Suns, on another note, were on a different level than normal.The Portland Trail Blazers dutifully fulfilled their obligation to participate in a NBA basketball game Thursday, falling on the road to the San Antonio Spurs 129-127 in a nail-biter. The Spurs did nothing short of what was expected in the first quarter of play. With the playoffs around the corner though, the Suns will welcome his hot hand in their efforts. With the addition of Kevin Durant, the heavily-needed scoring from Paul has decreased. The 37-year-old guard is averaging 13.5 points on 43 percent shooting for the season coming into Tuesday. Paul was able to score18 points in just the first half, which helped increase the Suns decent lead. Tuesday’s predicting to be another one of those outcomes. Paul still has those nights where he can turn in scoring at a high volume. The Suns didn’t look to let up on the Spurs in the first half, leading to a 69-51 score at halftime. Phoenix has a 2-0 record against San Antonio so far this season, and it’s shaping up to be a sweep. With a win against the San Antonio Spurs, the Suns could improve to 44-35 on the season. The Phoenix Suns have a legitimate chance to fortify their fourth seed spot on Tuesday.
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