The end is near for Portland. There is no other way around it to say this. The sweep seems to be on and the Blazers just are not in the same league as the Spurs.
San Antonio opened up a big lead once again with 60 points in the first half yet again. Portland’s bad starts have dug it a hole that the team cannot burrow itself out of. Tony Parker scored 29 points, knifing in and out of the paint with ease for the Spurs. It was the same kind of first half, killer performance that Parker has provided San Antonio throughout the series. Portland has no answer.
Yes, the Blazers cut into the 20-point lead and got it to single digits. But every run was met with a Spurs team getting back its focus and forcing the Blazers into a mistake. Portland could not get over the hump.
And while San Antonio had several major contributions off the bench, Portland played its starters more than 37 minutes with Will Barton leading the team with 11 minutes off the bench. The Blazers had just six bench points. That is not enough support.
LaMarcus Aldridge, Nicolas Batum, Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews had 20-plus points each. That scoring was not enough. It will take superhuman effort from Aldridge or Lillard or some more help to get the Blazers in the same conversation with the Spurs.
They have one more chance to do that Monday.
