The San Antonio Spurs came home looking to get back on track after a two-game losing streak on the road. They caught fire in the Frost Bank Center as they defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 118-105.
The Spurs shot 53.7% from the field and 41% from deep, knocking down 16 three-pointers in the win. They played an up-tempo game and whizzed the ball all over the court with 35 assists. Defensively they got enough stops down the stretch to pull away from the Blazers. Portland had a rough shooting night from deep, hitting just 28.1% of their 32 three-point attempts. They found soft spots in the paint and had some impressive finishes to stick around throughout the game.
San Antonio got a balanced scoring attack, but it was their bench that came up big in the win. The Spurs got 61 points from their second unit, headlined by Malaki Branham and Keldon Johnson who led the team with 17 points a piece. DeAndre Ayton made a killing in the paint as he led all scorers with 21 points and 10 rebounds. It wasn’t enough to overcome the Spurs offensive onslaught.
San Antonio will get a day off before they face the Utah Jazz on Saturday in what could be Devin Vassell’s first game of the season.
Observations
- San Antonio ran flex action to get Wembanyama looks in the middle of the paint. He got easy dunks and jumpers for himself, and when Portland overplayed him, he found open shooters. This play was used frequently last season to get Wembanyama or Devin Vassell open. Expect to see more of this action from the Spurs moving forward.
- The Spurs had a balanced offensive attack with 8 players scoring double-digit points. There was no shortage of ball movement and cutting that led to open looks all over the court. Even though Wembanyama struggled to find his offense, scoring 12 points on 4-13 shooting, the supporting cast picked up the slack.
- Julian Champagnie continues to impress with his shooting. He had 14 points on 4-8 shooting from deep. When Vassell returns to the lineup, the Spurs may just have 4 shooters to surround Wembanyama with for the first time in his career. It will be interesting to see how the offense looks with all that floor spacing.
- Branham left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury. It was his best game of the season. He attacked the basket with aggression, knocked down three open deep balls, and wasn’t a liability defensively. We’ll see how serious his injury is, but it’s tough to lose another scorer so early in the season.
- Blake Wesley made an impact without being a threat to shoot it from deep. He was great at pushing the ball in transition and finding open teammates. He finished with 10 points, 8 assists and 2 steals.
- Stephon Castle is looking comfortable in the starting lineup. Besides some ugly shot from deep, his offensive game looked much better against Portland. He had 14 points and 6 assists in the win. His strength and finishing ability are a weapon for the Spurs offense, and his floor vision only gets better by the game.
