Field Level Media
Oct 28, 2019
DeMar DeRozan poured in 27 points and led a huge midgame charge for the San Antonio Spurs, who came flying back from an early deficit and then held off the visiting Portland Trail Blazers 113-110 on Monday.
San Antonio completed a sweep of its season-opening, three-game homestand. Portland fell to 2-2 as its two-game winning streak ended.
The Spurs roared back from a 19-point, first-quarter hole to take the lead midway through the third on the way to an 82-71 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes.
San Antonio outscored the Trail Blazers 63-38 over the second and third quarters, but Portland, playing the second game of a road back-to-back, forged its own comeback late, pulling to within 109-108 on Damian Lillard's dunk with 1:09 to play.
Lillard scored 18 of his 28 points over the game's final 3:50, but he missed a 3-point attempt that would have tied the game with 16.3 seconds to play. After a foul and two missed free throws by DeRozan, Portland had two more chances to pull even, but Lillard missed twice from beyond the arc, with the final attempt rolling around the rim and out at the buzzer.
Derrick White added 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting for the Spurs. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 15 points for San Antonio, and Bryn Forbes and Patty Mills scored 14 and 12 points, respectively.
CJ McCollum had 27 points for the Trail Blazers, with Rodney Hood pumping in 11 and Skal Labissiere and Anfernee Simons scoring 10 points each.
The Spurs trailed 23-4 midway through the first quarter as Portland hit its first five 3-point shots. But San Antonio clawed back to within 51-45 at halftime behind a 10-2 run to end the second quarter.
McCollum led all scorers with 15 points at intermission. White had 11 points and DeRozan nine in the first half for the Spurs.
The Spurs surged to a 59-58 lead on DeRozan's driving layup with 8:44 to play in the third quarter. San Antonio took charge for good via a 13-4 surge over the ensuing 6 1/2 minutes.
--Field Level Media