Portland is one game away from playoff elimination.
The Portland Trail Blazers had a golden opportunity to tie up their opening-round series against the San Antonio Spurs at two games apiece on Sunday afternoon, but instead blew a big halftime lead and were decimated by the Spurs in the second half, ultimately losing 114-93.
This was a game that featured a 40-point swing from the time Portland held a significant advantage over San Antonio to the final buzzer, when the Spurs had turned it into a blowout. Now, the Blazers are down three games to one and facing elimination with Game 5 in San Antonio incoming.
In this game, the offense struggled badly down the stretch. Portland finished with just 93 points, and the defense completely collapsed in the second half, allowing San Antonio to score 73 points across the final two quarters. That was the difference. The Blazers lost the second half 73-35, and at that rate, it doesn’t matter how well a team plays in the first half or how big the halftime lead is.
Portland shot just 40% from the floor and 32% from beyond the arc while turning the ball over 18 times, allowing San Antonio to create momentum and flip the game entirely.
From an individual standpoint, Deni Avdija led the Blazers with 26 points, while Jrue Holiday added 20 and Jerami Grant finished with 17. But outside of that core three, no other Blazer scored more than eight points.
From here, the Blazers are facing elimination. Unless they can win three consecutive games to close out this series, Portland’s season will end with a first-round exit.