Blazers Miss Four Game-Tying 3-Pointers, Fall in San Antonio After Losing 19-pt Lead
The Portland Trail Blazers shot out to a 19-point lead early in the first quarter Monday night at San Antonio despite not having Zach Collins.
Portland led 23-4 halfway through the first quarter, but the Spurs fought back to within six before halftime.
The Blazers were scrambling late in the game, down 105-86 with 5:48 to go in the fourth. Portland went on a 24-8 run to end the game, but they needed a 27-8 run to get to overtime.
Damian Lillard took (and missed) three shots in the final 16.3 seconds, while veteran Anthony Tolliver also missed a three in that span with the score 113-110.
Lillard, CJ McCollum and Rodney Hood were the only three Blazers to play 30-plus minutes. However, only Lillard and McCollum scored more than 11 points for Portland; Lillard finished with 28, McCollum with 27 points.
With Zach Collins out, head coach Terry Stotts placed Anthony Tolliver in the starting lineup. Tolliver made his only shot (a three-pointer) in the first quarter and two free throws in the third; he finished with five points.
Speaking of Collins, coach Stotts revealed Collins underwent an MRI today and the third-year forward will be re-evaluated when the team returns to Portland. Essentially, all that told us is Collins wouldn’t play tonight against the Spurs and Wednesday against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.
For the second consecutive game, Hassan Whiteside struggled offensively, scoring just eight points. Whiteside also didn’t rebound well; he had just seven boards. All that said, Whiteside going against LaMarcus Aldridge seemed like a mismatch for the former Miami Heat center.
The 113-110 loss to San Antonio drops Portland to 2-2.
Monday’s loss hurt a little more because the Blazers owned a 19-point lead (albeit early), and they fought back from a 19-point deficit just to see four three-pointers to tie miss.
On to OKC.
