Spurs 107, Trail Blazers 98

Spurs improve to 6-0 on road
Associated Press

Box Score - Head to Head


PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili each scored 25 points, and the San Antonio Spurs ran their perfect road start to 6-0 with a 107-98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

Zach Randolph had 23 points, 19 in the first half, but Portland lost a 10-point second-half lead. Reserve Juan Dixon added 17 points.
Tony Parker scored 14 for the Spurs, who were playing for the second straight night and fought through a sluggish first half.

Duncan started slowly but took over in the third, scoring 13 points on a variety of post moves as the Spurs ran their offense through him.

The fourth quarter belonged to Ginobili, who scored 18 points and nearly singled-handedly turned back the Blazers with standout play on both ends of the floor.

After converting a three-point play, Ginobili stole the ball on the other end and fed Brent Barry for a layup that made it 98-92. Ginobili then scored on four of the next five possessions for the Spurs. He came into the game shooting 29 percent on 3-pointers, but made three in the fourth quarter.

Jarrett Jack had 12 points and five assists for Portland. Barry had 10 points for the Spurs.

The Spurs also ended the 2005-06 season by winning their final five road games.

Spurs-Trail Blazers Preview

Associated Press
Posted: 14 minutes ago



The San Antonio Spurs finished with the best road record in the NBA last season. In 2006-07, they've picked up right where they left off.

The Spurs look to extend their franchise-best road start when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden on Monday.
Last season, San Antonio (8-2) went 29-12 away from the AT&T Center to match the 1994-95 club for the best road record in franchise history.

The Spurs wrapped up the 2005-06 season winning their final five road games, and have opened the 2006-07 season with a 5-0 mark on the road after defeating Sacramento 108-99 on Sunday.

Frequently, the games haven't even been close. San Antonio is outscoring its opponents by 8.8 points per game away from home.

"They know how to win on the road, they know how to win at home," Kings coach Eric Musselman said after Sunday night's contest. "They've been doing it for many years."

Tim Duncan scored a season-high 35 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to record his eighth double-double of the season. Duncan made 13 of 17 shots and was 9-for-11 from the free-throw line.

"I got it going early and was able to sustain it," said Duncan, who is averaging 21.6 points and 10.6 rebounds on the road this season.

Duncan has created problems for defenses in the NBA throughout his 10-year career, but struggled offensively against the Trail Blazers (5-6) last season.

The two-time league MVP averaged just 15 points on 45.1 percent shooting in four games against Portland. In his last game against the Blazers, Duncan scored a season-low six points on 3-of-7 shooting in a 98-79 Spurs win on March 24.

San Antonio won all four meetings with Portland by an average of 18.5 points last season in spite of Duncan's struggles.

The Spurs have won five straight games over the Blazers overall, and 12 of the last 13 meetings. They have also won six of their last seven visits to the Rose Garden.

Portland was tied with Houston, New York and Toronto for the worst home record in the NBA last season at 15-26, but is off to a 3-1 start at the Rose Garden this season.

The Blazers defeated New Jersey 86-68 on Saturday, snapping a four-game losing streak.

Portland held the Nets to opponent season lows in points and field goal percentage (33.3 percent) in a dominant defensive effort.

On offense, the Blazers jumped out to a 13-0 lead, and committed just 11 turnovers in the game.

"We had a long film session about what we needed to do to be connected on both ends of the floor," Portland coach Nate McMillian said. "Our turnovers were down and we weren't trying to force 3s. I thought it was our best all-around game."

Zach Randolph had 20 points and 16 rebounds Saturday. The 6-foot-9 Randolph struggled to find his shot against the Spurs last season, though, averaging 16.3 points on just 32.9 percent shooting from the field.

Randolph has actually been playing pretty good for them lately, but we SHOULD win.

Still it is a back to back............

Are we ever going to win a back to back game??

I think we will lose this one as well.

Spurs roll into Portland

(Sports Network) - The San Antonio Spurs try to continue their impressive start to the new season, as they visit the Portland Trail Blazers tonight at the Rose Garden.

The Spurs swept the season series, 4-0, in 2005-06, and have won five straight and 12 of the last 13 contests in this series. San Antonio has won two straight and six of its last seven at Portland.

San Antonio enters tonight's contest on a two-game winning streak. Tim Duncan poured in 35 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as San Antonio cruised to a 108-99 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday at ARCO Arena.

Tony Parker scored 17 points in the win over Sacramento for San Antonio, while Manu Ginobili netted 16 for the Spurs, who have won seven of their last eight games overall.

The Spurs are a perfect 5-0 on the road this season. They return home after tonight's game to host a pair of contests. San Antonio will play the Miami Heat on Wednesday and the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.

Portland plays the first of a brief two-game homestand. Zach Randolph had 20 points and 16 rebounds on Saturday as the Trail Blazers dominated defensively to pound the New Jersey Nets, 86-68, at Continental Airlines Arena.

Rookie LaMarcus Aldridge and point guard Jarrett Jack both scored 12 for the Trail Blazers, who snapped a four-game skid. Ime Udoka had 10 points for in the win for Portland.

The Trail Blazers are 3-1 at the Rose Garden this season. They will host Vince Carter and the Nets on Wednesday.

I'll be at this game tonight, hope the back to back bug doesn't bite again.

^^ COOL

Be sure to give us a full report..........

Let's see, key to the game: Can Tim overpower the much shorter Zach Randolph? If so, we win. They have no other firepower right now.

Jack doesn't have the speed to matchup with Parker. They're starting Graham at the 2, a guy we cut during camp last year. They have a minor league specialist in Udoka at the 3, and rookie Aldridge will be getting minutes at the 4/5 prolly - I feel a posterization in the near future! They are one of the most inexperienced ballclubs as a group in the NBA right now.

If we lose this game to the Blazers you may as well write off the rest of the B2B's for the entire season, it would be as atrocious a loss as the 'Cats game!

We should win by at least 12-15 points IMO, no question.

i'll be liveblogging at halftime and postgame over at http://www.projectspurs.com/blog

Lets hope this back-to-back curse ends tonight

i think the Spurs can take it if they come out strong. idk about yall, but im sick of the first half slumps we've been going thru

but im sick of the first half slumps we've been going thru

true enough, but that is better htan teh second half slumps Spurs used to experiemce on a regular basis back in the pre-duncan days. Be grateful.

SpursFanIsrael wrote:Are we ever going to win a back to back game??

I think we will lose this one as well.

The Knicks game was a second game of a back to back. The Spurs won thata one.

The Knicks are not really a team...

And what can you say about the Bobcats game?

If the Spurs are ever going to get out of the back-to-back funk they're in, they have to start now.

If they let this enigma persist it will become an unbreakable trait.

Get it done, Spurs!