San Antonio vs. Portland, Final Score: The Spurs pulverize the struggling Trail Blazers, 114-94

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, one of the NBA’s basement teams, in their third game of the season, finishing 2-1 in the short homestand. The Spurs were the nastier team, and Victor Wembanyama led the way with a double-double of points (30) and blocks (10). This was the team’s last outing before its four-game road trip.

Shaedon Sharpe carved up the Spurs with jumpers and layups, but the hosts limited Anfernee Simons, who just hit a game-winning shot over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, to two of 10 shots in the first half and five of 12 in the second. Portland’s limited offense allowed the Spurs to play help defense aggressively. To start, the San Antonio Blazers were held to 40 percent shooting for the night.

Observations

• Victor Wembanyama followed up his dominant performance on Thursday with versatile work. He was like a roaming stick of dynamite, destroying Portland’s offensive actions at the rim. He had six shutouts at halftime and tied the record for most straight games with a shutout in team history (62). But the visitors had more success going after him on screen rolls. His offense didn’t start to come into play until the second quarter, when he made two triples and a dunk off a cut. Then he made all four shots in the third quarter.
• San Antonio led for the second straight game after one quarter while shooting 42 percent from the field. Harrison Barnes was the tall Spur, scoring eight points from long and close range. The team also closed off the paint with help defense and guarded well without fouling, allowing a trip to the line. For the season, the group is 28th in net consumption for the frame. The period ended with San Antonio leading 25-20.
• Despite Portland increasing its physicality, applying a full-court press and flashing a zone into the defense in the second quarter, the Spurs scored more efficiently than in the first by 17 percentage points. Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Julian Champagnie were the only Spurs with multiple field goals in the quarter.
• Then the Spurs started the third quarter struggling to make 3-point shots. Wembanyama made the only one of the period and was fouled by Deandre Ayton plus Donovan Clingan on two other attempts. Comically, after Clingan fouled him, Sean Elliot said: “The art of closing out is dead,” on the Spurs telecast. The team also struggled to score without Wembanyama during the three-minute break he got in the frame. As soon as he checked back in, the team went on a 12-8 run to close the quarter.
• The Spurs began the fourth period ahead by 18 points. The lead had dampened Portland’s ferocity, helping the Spurs hold them to 38 percent shooting. And Tre Jones put the finishing touches on the offense with several baskets and layups for teammates to close out.
• It was the second night in a row that Mitch Johnson used Chris Paul, Devin Vassell, Barnes, Jeremy Sochan and Wembanyama as the starting line-up. Still, they didn’t have to close because of the lead in the fourth quarter, giving the reserves an opportunity to enjoy some minutes.
• The Spurs attacked a set defense 75.2 percent of the time, per Cleaning the Glass. The offense also had opportunities, it took advantage in the open court and scored 26 points at halftime.