Trail Blazers spill 46-point 3rd quarter in loss to Spurs

Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija’s half-court heave fell harmlessly off the backcourt as time expired, allowing the San Antonio Spurs to leave the Moda Center with a 118-116 victory Friday night.

The final shot came when the Blazers took possession with 2.4 seconds left after Spurs center Victor Wembanyama made two free throws to give his team the lead.

That moment ended the scoring during a furious back-and-forth in the final few minutes of the game.

“I thought as a group we let our guard down,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said.

A game the Blazers appeared to have won after a 46-point third quarter led to a 17-point lead in the fourth.

But everything came crashing down in the final eight minutes as the Spurs outscored the Blazers 30-11.

“I thought as a group we let our guard down,” Billups said. “They did a great job of increasing their pressure.”

Jerami Grant led the Blazers with 32 points on 12-of-19 shooting, including 8 of 10 on threes.

Anfernee Simons scored 30 points with seven assists. Deni Avdija came off the bench and scored 19 with four assists.

The Blazers won the third quarter 46-28 while shooting 79.2% from the field and 8 of 10 from three-point range.

Of their 19 field goal attempts, 13 came with assists. Grant scored 22 points in the quarter on 8-of-10 shooting, including 6-of-7 from long range.

“Jerami caught fire,” Billups said.

The Spurs had a remarkable first quarter, shooting 72.2 from the field and going 5 of 6 from three-point range to take a 33-25 lead.

In front was point guard Chris Paul, who in 11 minutes scored five points with four assists and three rebounds. But Paul was ejected for getting agitated in front of an official.

The Spurs played much worse in the second quarter without Paul, scoring just 19 points. But the Blazers proved unable to capitalize on the advantage, scoring just 17 of their own while committing six turnovers.

San Antonio led 52-42 at halftime.

“Man, we just couldn’t get it going offensively in the first half,” Billups said.

The Blazers, much better in the second half, shot 51.2% on the night but gave up 16 second-chance points to the Spurs, who shot 51.8%.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN

The Blazers (8-17) have now lost five straight and nine of 11 since winning three straight at home in November.

The Spurs (13-12) won their second straight game.

CLINGAN BACK

Rookie center Donovan Clingan returned after missing seven games with a sprained knee.

With Clingan on the one-minute restriction, Billup’s Jabari Walker started at center.

Clingan came off the bench and scored six points with seven rebounds in seven minutes.

Robert Williams III (concussion) remained out after being listed as questionable. Deandre Ayton also sat out due to illness.

NEXT UP

The Blazers will play the Phoenix Suns (12-11) at 5:00 p.m. Sunday.

— Aaron Fentress | [email protected] | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)