Portland played a gritty game and in the end were in a position to get a win. Wins on the road can never be taken for granted in this league.
It was good to see the Blazers pull out the win on the road to an undefeated team in a playoff esque atmosphere. A lot of times it goes the other way. A gutsy and hard earned win.
I said it in the game thread that i originally thought he should have used that challenge earlier but he did a great job in saving it for when the game was on the line. Hats off!!
There was definitely a few plays he could have used it on earlier to keep or help build momentum, but holding off using it untill the end paid off. I agree Hats off to Terry for his patience there.
Lillard was as good as you could ask for in that game during the second half. CJ was the CJ we all know and love/hate but you have to admit. CJ was not just scoring he was passing the ball well and looking for options.
Dame played well in the 2nd half and helped us win. His slow starts concern me. The Blazers early woes were as much on him as they were on Tolliver (and Stotts). Dame is still struggling from deed as well.
CJ was being his old self for sure. He was driving into three guys in the lane and I was cussing at him, but he made the shots he normally misses. And he caught me by surprise with his passing. He plays so much better when he plays within the offense.
Now the Loss. Losing Zach is gonna hurt. Losing any starting player right now hurts. The Blazers started the season with two bigs on the bench. Having three of them is unfortunate to say the least. Lets hope the MRI today gives some positive news. Any way you cut it he is out for this game and probably a couple weeks. Report is dislocation and that will take time.
Yeah, it Hurts, especially with Nurk and Pau already out and a thin front court. They were able to pop his shoulder back in and he says he feels good, but he will likely be out a spate of games. Skal should start in his place, but Stotts will likely go with Hezonja. The Blazers will be forced to play small ball. Hopefully, Stotts doesn't give Tolliver more minutes. Talk abiut adding insult to injury.
Spurs are at home and have a day off. Blazers playing on a B2B. This is not such a bad thing on the fourth game of the season. They are still fairly fresh in the season. If you are going to do a B2B it's better to play it in the first few games. (Yeah i'm stretching for a positive). Spurs are reporting no injuries. The feel i am getting is the Blazers need to come out stronger at the beginning of games. Even more so on this game. The shots might not want to fall late in the fourth.
It is going to be a tough game. Maybe resting so early in the season will end being a bad thing for the Spurs. Let's hope so eith no injuries on their side. Another 2-0 team. This one with the best coach in the NBA. Don't over stretch, you might dislocate your shoulder.
This is a game Whiteside can have a huge effect. If the Spurs are going to play Aldridge at center Hassan can work on blocking shots and rebounding. KP was hitting shots from the Logo last night. Aldridge shoots the mid range. Pressure LMA's shot and gobble up rebounds. That is a good way to beat the Spurs. Though the reports are that the Spurs have made rebounding an emphasis this year. Tim Duncan coaching might have something to do with this?
Pick for this game is Whiteside. He can be the factor the Spurs cannot control. He has also been shooting well from the line. No longer can teams just foul him. Happy to see this!
Go to Whiteside all night. He needs to go hard and make San Antonio foul him. He can hit the free throws and he dominate inside against them. LaMarcus is not going to stop him. He can easily beat LA for rebounds. The hardest part of that assignment is Whiteside coming out on Aldridge. He has problems with laying off and not covering the perimeter and long jump shots.
Blazers again have an advantage in the back court. Murray and Forbes are no match for Dame and CJ. The advantage for the Spurs comes at the SF. DeRozen will be a handful like usual. I think you again will see Hood having a big effect on offense but if the game is close at the end you will again see Bazemore get the defensive call. The Blazers are just starting to see how effective Hood/Bazemore combo is. I like it so far.
Don't underestimate Murray and Forbes, but yeah Dame and CJ need to go at them all night. They are far better than their counter parts.
Hood vs DeRozan is a better matchup than you let on. Hood can guard the hell out of DeRozan with his length and help counter him on the other end. Hood hit all of his 3's last night and is shooting 45% from the arc on the season.
Bazemore will be very important tonight, especially on the defensive end. I have a feeling he is going to play well on the other end as well tonight.
Another possible factor will be Mario. He might be a good sub if Skal is not up to the task. Mario plays with an edge. Aldridge doesn't like to be uncomfortable. Mario is good at making players uncomfortable. Defense will be what wins this game if the Blazers can play it well. Make it an ugly game!
Go Blazers
Kjironman is a fan!!!
Mario will likely start in place of Zach. He feels like a Stauskas type player who will have a few games where he blows up the boxscore, but mostly he will have subpar uneventful nights. Hopefully, tonight will be one of those explosions.
An issue with Mario is he is too frantic and isn't able to maintain control of the ball because of it. If he slowed down just a bit, learned how to maintain control in those tense situations he would be much better.
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OFFICIAL SPURS' GAME NOTES 
