Portland @ San Antonio preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 28, 2019 ) Portland 110, San Antonio 113

The Portland Trail Blazers are off to a disappointing start after reaching the Western Conference finals last season. Portland looks to halt its recent struggles when it opens a six-game road trip against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday while numerous reports say the club will add former star Carmelo Anthony sometime next week.

Anthony, 35, still needs to pass a physical and only time will tell if he still has the form that made him a 10-time All-Star and one of the top offensive players of his era. "I believe he can help us," Portland point guard Damian Lillard told ESPN. "Obviously I'd like to see our early-season struggles turn around, and hopefully we can be part of a great bounce-back for Melo as well." The Spurs also are experiencing issues as Friday's 111-109 road loss to the Orlando Magic was their fourth straight and seventh in nine games. San Antonio is allowing an average of 122 points during the four-game skid and has yet to hold an opponent under 100 this season.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), FS Southwest (San Antonio)

ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (4-8): One aspect that will be worth watching is whether or not Anthony will be a good fit with Lillard, who controls the ball most of the time, and off-guard CJ McCollum, another player who operates well with the ball in his hands. Even when Anthony was at its best, his penchant for hogging the ball and not passing would irk teammates and it also reasons that Portland may opt to bring him off the bench at the outset of his tenure. The Trail Blazers have lost seven of their past nine games despite Lillard (30.5 average) and McCollum (20.1) off to strong starts.

ABOUT THE SPURS (5-7): Shooting guard DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points versus Orlando to top 20 for the third time in four games but he was frustrated that he attempted just three free throws and the team shot only 10 (making six) while the Magic were 27-of-34. "Every single guy on this team is being aggressive, trying to get to the basket, trying to draw contact," DeRozan said afterward. "It doesn't make no sense we only shoot 10 free throws." DeRozan was 9-of-15 shooting (60 percent) from the field to mark his fifth time of shooting 60 percent or better this season and he is a stellar 21-of-33 over the past two games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. DeRozan scored 27 points as the Spurs defeated the Trail Blazers 113-110 on Oct. 28.

2. San Antonio PG Dejounte Murray, who missed all of last season due to an ACL tear, will be rested on the second end of the back-to-back.

3. Lillard had just nine points on 2-of-12 shooting in Wednesday's 114-106 home loss to the Toronto Raptors as he failed to score over 20 points for the first time this season.

PREDICTION: Spurs 109, Trail Blazers 105