Spurs look to regain winning touch vs. Blazers (Apr 10, 2017)
PORTLAND, Ore. -- With the playoffs just over the horizon, the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers have different goals as they square off Monday night at Moda Center.
The Spurs (61-19), the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, want to regain their mojo after taking their second loss in three games, a 98-87 setback to the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night at AT&T Center.
The Trail Blazers (40-40) want to continue their winning ways after claiming their 15th victory in 20 games by beating the Utah Jazz 101-86 Saturday night at Moda Center.
Oklahoma City's 96-95 win over Denver (40-42) on Sunday night clinched the No. 8 seed for Portland, which owns the tiebreaker with the Nuggets. The Blazers are headed for a first-round playoff meeting with the Golden State Warriors.
San Antonio has home-court advantage in its first-round series with the Memphis Grizzlies, but coach Gregg Popovich has not liked what he has seen from his players in defeats to the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers the past week. Against the Clippers, the Spurs got double-figure scoring out of just two players -- Kawhi Leonard with 28 and LaMarcus Aldridge with 18.
"(The Clippers) were more aggressive than we were," Popovich said. "They wanted the game more. We didn't have enough physical toughness to compete with them. Our execution at both ends was really poor. I'm very disappointed in that."
Popovich's philosophy has been to rest his veterans and regulars at times throughout the regular season, but he vows that won't happen as the Spurs end with road games against Portland on Monday and Utah on Wednesday.
"I'm really looking forward to these next two games," Popovich said. "Nobody is going to rest."
The Spurs may regain the services of starting shooting guard Danny Green, who has missed the last five games with a quad contusion.
Portland's Damian Lillard will be coming off the scoring game of his life, a 59-point outburst that paced the Blazers to the triumph over the Jazz. It was a career high and a franchise single-game scoring record, and Lillard also matched his own franchise mark for most 3-pointers in a game, sinking 9 in 14 attempts.
"I knew coming into the game I was going to attack them, knowing how important the game was," Lillard said. "I decided early, 'I'm going to try to impose my will on them and see how it goes.'"
Utah coach Quin Snyder said Lillard is difficult to defend at the 3-point arc because of his range and acumen.
"You can't relax (on defense) because he has unlimited range," Snyder said. "Those 3's he walks into, he has rhythm. They seem like tough shots because they're so deep, but they're not.
"On the pick-and-roll, he's measuring you constantly. He is terrific at reading coverages. He is always looking to see how you can take advantage (of the defender). He is as good as that as anybody. And they do a great job of changing angles so he can get separation when he's on the dribble."
Guard Allen Crabbe, who sat out the Saturday game due to a sore left foot, is expected to be available for duty against the Spurs. Crabbe scored a team-high 25 points in a win over Minnesota on Thursday.
