Huge news out of San Antonio on Thursday evening – after discovering a snake in their locker room while getting ready for Game 2 against the hometown San Antonio Spurs, the Portland Trail Blazers were so petrified by the mere sight of the venomous creature, that they seemed to forget how to play basketball entirely. San Antonio crushed the Blazers 114-97. Spurs star Tony Parker stacked on 16 points and 10 assists while Manu Ginobili netted 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting. But it was Kawhi Leonard who hit Portland the hardest with his 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Tim Duncan shined primarily on defense and he, along with Tiago Splitter, helped hold Robin Lopez and LaMarcus Aldridge to 9-of-33 shooting. Patty Mills, Boris Diaw, and Marco Belinelli also assisted from the bench and tacked on 32 between the three of them.
Portland has yet to find an answer for the extreme depth that the Spurs project, and it shows in their lack of heavy offensive plays. Point guard Damian Lillard, despite his 19 points, clearly struggled judging by his 8-of-20 shooting from the field. Nicolas Batum fared somewhat better (using the word “somewhat” loosely here) with his 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, but it was Wesley Matthews who shined a slight ray of hope on his team. Matthews attacked both ends of the court well and finished with 14 points on 6-of12 shooting.
If the Blazers can’t figure out a way to shut the Spurs down offensively, San Antonio will end up grabbing the broom in this snooze-fest of a series. Spurs head to Portland for Game 3 on Saturday night.
Bet that snake doesn’t look so terrifying after that insanely horrific loss.