Blazers' Spurs Nightmare Is Back: Why Saturday's Blowout Should Sound Familiar

The San Antonio Spurs already ended one Portland Trail Blazers season. Saturday night wasn't going to end another, even if the 125-103 beatdown at Moda Center looked painfully familiar.

Portland is 6-3 with 73 regular-season games remaining, and there's little reason to panic over one November loss.

But the Blazers spent much of Saturday looking like the same team San Antonio sent home last spring ... and that's worth addressing before these games start carrying more weight.

The Spurs eliminated Portland in five games during April's Western Conference first round, winning all four games by double digits. The Blazers' lone victory came in Game 2, when Victor Wembanyama exited with a concussion before halftime.

Even without Wembanyama in Game 3, Portland couldn't take advantage. The Blazers squandered a 15-point second-half lead as Stephon Castle scored 33 points and Dylan Harper added 27.

San Antonio escaped with a 120-108 victory, taking control of a series Portland never recovered from.

The Spurs had already proven they could beat Portland without their best player. On Saturday, Wembanyama was back to making life miserable for the Blazers himself.

Wembanyama finished with 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting in just 24 minutes. San Antonio knocked down 17 three-pointers, scored 45 points in the third quarter and led by as many as 35.

Portland, meanwhile, made just nine of its 35 attempts from beyond the arc. Deni Avdija led the team with 15 points, and nobody else reached that mark.

Coach Micah Nori called it an "ass-kicking," although he pushed back on the suggestion that his team needed to be humbled. And given Portland's circumstances, that's fair.

The Blazers were playing their second game in as many nights after a difficult Friday in Los Angeles. Ja Morant remains sidelined with a hamstring injury, Shaedon Sharpe is recovering from knee surgery, and Robert Williams III rested Saturday.

There's enough to explain why Portland struggled. There isn't enough to explain away a matchup that's now gone against the Blazers five times in six meetings since April.

Saturday, Portland used Toumani Camara and other smaller defenders against Wembanyama, allowing Donovan Clingan to remain closer to the basket while spending time guarding Castle.

The idea was to prevent Wembanyama from dragging Clingan away from the rim, where his defensive presence could be better utilized.

Except Wembanyama still scored 29 points, San Antonio made 17 threes, and Portland couldn't defend without fouling. The Spurs attempted 18 free throws in the second quarter alone.

At some point ... Nori has to consider a different approach.

Giving Clingan more opportunities to defend Wembanyama directly would be worth exploring, even with the obvious risks of pulling him away from the basket. Portland could also mix its coverages more frequently, forcing San Antonio to adjust rather than allowing its offense to settle into a rhythm.

Neither solution is guaranteed to work. But the Blazers have already spent five losses discovering what doesn't.

Portland's offense has its own issues to address. The Blazers scored fewer than 100 points in three of their four playoff losses last spring, and Saturday's performance wasn't much of an improvement.

Finding ways to draw Wembanyama away from the rim and create better perimeter looks would at least offer a different approach against a defense that has repeatedly frustrated them.

Of course, getting Morant and Sharpe healthy would help. So would getting more than the combined 27 points Avdija and Damian Lillard contributed Saturday. A healthier Portland team should have more options offensively, although that alone won't solve everything San Antonio presents.

After Saturday's loss, Avdija admitted he spent the fourth quarter thinking about what the Blazers could do differently the next time these teams meet.

Portland gets another opportunity November 25, when the Spurs return to Moda Center for an NBA Cup matchup. Winning would be nice, but discovering something that works against San Antonio might prove more valuable over the next several months.

The Blazers have earned some patience with their 6-3 start, and there's no reason to let one November blowout overshadow everything they've accomplished.

Portland has no way of knowing whether another postseason meeting with San Antonio is coming, but if the Blazers intend to make a deeper playoff run, they can't afford to keep arriving at these games with the same questions and leaving without answers.

Saturday's loss will probably be forgotten by April. What happened last spring shouldn't be ... especially when San Antonio just offered another reminder of how far Portland still has to go.

The Blazers have five months to come up with something different. Spending another spring watching the Spurs celebrate at their expense would be a pretty miserable way to discover they never did.