By Kyle Soppe
According to Elias Sports Bureau, the 40 point shellacking that the Trailblazers put on the Spurs was the largest defeat by a team that had won its previous 11 games. The Spurs played without their big three, but 137-97? Championship caliber teams can do better than that.
The home team led by as much as 48, paced by Gerald Wallace’s +42 plus/minus ratio. Surprisingly enough, they had three players with a negative ratio despite the lopsided nature. The game wasn’t a blow out in the first few minutes, as we saw four lead changes.
Portland was +14 rebounds and +18 assists. The Trailblazers had four players (two starters and two reserves) who tallied at least four helpers, while the Spurs didn’t have a single player record four or more dimes.
Talk about being comfortable at home, as Portland shot 59.3% from the field, and 53.6% from deep. They outscored the Spurs by 21 points from behind the arc and by 24 points from two point range.
The Trailblazers won every quarter, including an 18 point margin in the first (41-23) and a 15 point difference in the third (37-22). San Antonio’s scored 32 points in the fourth quarter, nine more than their next highest scoring quarter. The 32 points would have been Portland’s fourth highest scoring quarter.
Every Portland player who played at least nine minutes shot at least 50% from the field. Their balanced attack included four starters scoring at least 19 points, and a total of six players with at least 16 points. Those four starters didn’t miss a free throw, as they connected on all 16.
Jamal Crawford made a season best five three pointers. Over the last three games, 63.6% of his baskets are from three point land.
As for the road team, this was not a game to remember for any player other than rookie Kawhi Leonard. The San Diego State product produced a team high in points (24), rebounds (10), blocks (1), field goal attempts (14), three pointers made (2), steals (5) and minutes played (43). His minutes, points, steals and shot totals are all career highs. His five thefts equaled the number by the Trailblazers, and were 83.3% of the Spurs steals.
The Spurs had six players in double digits, a very rare feat in any defeat, let alone a 40 point embarrassment.
Last night was a high scoring night in the NBA, as 70% of the teams in action scored at least 100 points. The Spurs managed to outscore Memphis by nine points: the big difference was in their opponents total, as the Grizzles gave up 61 fewer points.
Another big day in the Association with 13 games on the books. Who would you like to see?
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