The Portland Trail Blazers will look to carry momentum forward from a rare win when they host the struggling San Antonio Spurs on Thursday in the first meeting of the season between the bottom two teams in the Western Conference.
Thursday’s game is the first of a back-to-back for the teams in Portland.
The Trail Blazers did just about everything well in a 130-113 home win over Sacramento on Tuesday to snap a two-game losing streak and produce a season-high point total. Anfernee Simons scored 29 points and rookie reserve Duop Reath added 25 points and nine rebounds, both career highs, in the victory.
Portland coach Chauncey Billups has asked Reath to be more aggressive, and he got his wish on Tuesday.
“I’ve been telling (Reath) that if you’re not shooting when you’re out there, I don’t know what advantage you give us,” Billups said. “We’ve got to see what you’ve got. You get an opportunity, you’ve got to shoot it.”
Malcolm Brogdon hit for 19 points, Jabari Walker had 17 points off the bench and rookie backup Scoot Henderson racked up 17 points and a career-best 11 assists for the Trail Blazers, who have dropped eight of their past 10 outings but have won twice since Dec. 19.
Portland played without Deandre Ayton (knee) and Shaedon Sharpe (adductor) on Tuesday. The Trail Blazers shared the load, forging a 65-17 advantage in bench points.
“They were amazing,” Blazers forward Jerami Grant said about Portland’s reserves. “They came out with a lot of energy and picked us up. We had a decent start but the energy that they brought put us over the top.”
The Spurs head to the Pacific Northwest after a 130-118 loss to Utah at home on Tuesday. It was San Antonio’s fifth consecutive defeat and its 23rd setback in the past 24 games.
Keldon Johnson led the Spurs with 26 points off the bench in the loss to Utah. Devin Vassell added 22, Jeremy Sochan scored 19, Julian Champagnie contributed 16 and rookie Victor Wembanyama tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots in his return to the court after missing a game with an ankle injury.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich has had about enough of his team losing and demanded that it play with more consistency.
“We’re not consistent offensively or defensively,” Popovich said Tuesday. “We go in spurts and really haven’t matured enough to understand that winning an NBA game is difficult and calls for consistency. … You can’t be consistent on offense and execute on defense for 20 minutes of the game. You’re not going to win that way.
“Part of it is youth, part of it is that I probably need to demand from certain people. It’s time they have to be more consistent, or I make changes.
Popovich has already announced that Wembanyama will not play both games of the back-to-back as he works back to full strength.
“I’ve made it clear I’m going to trust them if they want me to sit out, but only if I really need to,” Wembanyama said.
–Field Level Media