Trail Blazers at Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs will try to bounce back after an exhausting loss when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. The Spurs dropped a 117-116 triple-overtime decision to Memphis on Wednesday and now play their third game in a stretch of 11 straight against teams with non-losing records. Portland, winners of three straight, is in the midst of a tough stretch of its own, going 5-2 so far during a stretch of playing nine of 11 games on the road.
With Tony Parker (hamstring) and Kawhi Leonard (hand) unlikely to play against Portland due to injuries, the Spurs will be a tired bunch, as four players played more than 40 minutes against Memphis, including 48 by Tim Duncan. “I don’t think I’ve ever played three overtimes,” Danny Green told the San Antonio Express-News. "It’s going to take a while for us to recover from this, but we’ve bounced back from tougher situations.” San Antonio will also need to find an answer for Damian Lillard, who is averaging 25.9 points in eight career games versus San Antonio and torched the Spurs on Monday for 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in a 108-95 victory.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (20-6): Beginning with this game, Portland starts a four-game road trip in five days that concludes Tuesday at Oklahoma City. Thomas Robinson replaced injured center Robin Lopez (9.6 points, 7.2 rebounds), who is out six weeks with a fractured hand, and had 15 points and 16 rebounds in his first career start as the Trail Blazers topped Milwaukee, 104-97 on Wednesday. LaMarcus Aldridge has three consecutive double-doubles and 14 for the season - fifth most in the NBA - and the 6-11 forward has added a 3-pointer to his arsenal, connecting on 14-of–27.
ABOUT THE SPURS (17-9): Green drained a season-high seven 3-pointers in 13 attempts in 52 minutes against Memphis and was limping noticeably late in the game. Duncan had 23 points and 10 rebounds but missed 10-of-15 free throws and played more than 40 minutes for the second time in a week after playing 40 minutes once all of last season. It doesn't get any easier after this one, as San Antonio goes to Dallas before returning home to play the Clippers and Oklahoma City.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Lillard is averaging 25.8 points, 5.6 assists and 5.6 rebounds over his last five games with 14 3-pointers.
2. Leonard has missed the last two games and four of the last six and Parker has missed three straight and six of seven.
3. The Spurs have lost two straight. They lost three in a row just once last season and once in 2012-13.