Trail Blazers at Spurs
Damian Lillard is now the second-leading scorer in franchise history and once again will see the player he passed when his Portland Trail Blazers visit the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. Lillard scored 24 points in Friday's 122-110 victory at New Orleans to move ahead of former teammate LaMarcus Aldridge, who now is with the Spurs.
Lillard has registered 12,584 points - trailing only Hall-of-Famer Clyde Drexler (18,040) on the franchise list - and admitted the milestone carried more importance due to the fact he was passing a former teammate in Aldridge (12,562). "It feels a little bigger because I played with LaMarcus," Lillard told reporters. "The fact that he’ll be the first one that I passed that I actually played with and against, that’ll make it a little bit more significant, that we were All-Stars together two times, (and on) two 50-win teams." Aldridge and the Spurs are thriving with seven straight victories after he posted 18 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's 109-83 home triumph over New York, and he told reporters he had just texted Lillard with congratulations. "Bittersweet. But great guy," Aldridge told reporters of Lillard after the contest. "He's worked hard and he's earned it. So I'm happy for him. I'm competitive, so it hurts. But I'm happy for him."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), FS Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (42-26): CJ McCollum scored 23 points against New Orleans, and that output represents his lowest over the last five games. McCollum is averaging 27.2 points during the stretch while knocking down 19-of-38 3-point attempts, including six against the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. Enes Kanter recorded 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench versus the Pelicans and has scored in double digits in six of his 10 games since being acquired from the Knicks.
ABOUT THE SPURS (40-29): San Antonio is taking care of business at home with nine straight victories and 16 in its last 18 opportunities. The triumph over the Knicks was the type coach Gregg Popovich likes to see - one with heavy intensity and a focus on defense. "It just feels good," forward Rudy Gay told reporters after returning from a two-game absence due to the flu. "Things are clicking. Playing defense. Even when the ball is not going in like we want it to, we're still getting wins, and that's how you know we're getting better as a team."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers have won two of this season's three meetings, but the Spurs prevailed 131-118 at home on Dec. 2.
2. San Antonio SG DeMar DeRozan recorded just 13 points against New York after averaging 30.5 over his previous two games.
3. Portland SG Rodney Hood (hip) returned from a one-game absence to score 17 points versus New Orleans.