Trail Blazers 109, Spurs 100
LaMarcus Aldridge collected 26 points and 13 rebounds as visiting Portland put together a late run and ended San Antonio’s six-game winning streak.
Wesley Matthews hit three of his six 3-pointers in the final 3:46 en route to 24 points and Damian Lillard added 21 points and eight assists as the Trail Blazers won their fourth straight. Mo Williams added 13 points off the bench and clinched it with four free throws down the stretch.
Manu Ginobili exploded for a season-high 29 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes off the bench for the Spurs. Marco Belinelli and Boris Diaw each added 14 points as San Antonio’s lead in the Western Conference slipped to a half-game over Portland.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was ejected with 7:18 left in the third quarter after drawing two technical fouls, and Lillard hit both technical free throws to give the Trail Blazers their biggest lead of the night at 67-55. San Antonio responded to their coach getting tossed by putting it on Ginobili, who scored the Spurs’ final 18 points of the quarter including a layup at the buzzer that gave them a 78-77 lead heading to the fourth.
San Antonio held a five-point edge with 8:33 to play before Aldridge scored eight points and Matthews hit a pair of 3-pointers in an 18-6 burst that put Portland on top 100-93. Belinelli responded with a 3-pointer but Nicolas Batum scored and Matthews connected again from beyond the arc to make it a nine-point game with 1:24 left as the Blazers put it away.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Portland went 19-for-20 at the free-throw line and 8-of-16 from beyond the arc. … The Spurs had not lost to a Western Conference team since falling to Houston on Christmas. … Ginobili is 6-of-9 from beyond the arc in the last two games after going 2-for-17 in his first four games this month.