Same old Spurs-Blazers

San Antonio's 12th straight win over Portland not pretty, but solid

By Jesse Severson

LocalNewsDaily.com, Apr 6, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

In the land of uncertainty that is the Western Conference, one thing is for sure.

The Spurs will beat the Blazers.

For the 12th consecutive meeting, San Antonio (53-24) got the best of Portland (38-39) Sunday. This time, the Spurs won 72-65 in a game where both teams shot less than 40 percent from the field.

“A win is never ugly,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich says. “I thought we played a very good defensive game.”

The Spurs shot 39 percent from the floor but held Portland to a season-low 34 percent.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we got it done,” says San Antonio power forward Tim Duncan. “The shooting wasn’t there, but defensively I thought we were pretty solid.”

The Spurs and Blazers have become like a big brother always beating the little brother playing one-on-one in the driveway.

The reigning champions got a boost from their former league MVP. Duncan finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds.

“Timmy was playing great,” San Antonio guard Tony Parker says. “They were playing a zone, so the holes were in the middle.”

The win keeps the Spurs in pace in the wild Western Conference playoff race, where they remain a game and a half behind Southwest Division-leading New Orleans, which beat Golden State 108-96 earlier in the day. If all eight playoff teams reach the 50-win plateau, it would be the first time that has happened since the 16-team playoff format was adopted in 1983-84.

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