Spurs fall to Blazers, 115-105

When a team makes a high percentage of their contested two-pointers, I think you have to shake their hand and shake your head. There just wasn’t much the Spurs could have done to change the outcome of the game. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points, only two of them were in the paint. Come on, that’s just not fair.

Every time the Spurs made a run, Lillard and Matthews responded. Batum bothered everyone with his length and annoying personality while Robin Lopez is just a gigantic human being out there. He kind of totally sucks at basketball, but the dude is large and has a knack for getting in the way.

Mo Williams scored 13 points off the bench for the Blazers hitting six of his nine shots. He may be my least favorite player in the NBA. Actually, that’s not true. Lebron, Chris Paul, Jason Terry, Matt Bonner. Mo is in my top five. I can’t ever figure out how he gets his shot off. He’s small, weird-looking and unathletic. It kills me every time he scores. So I died roughly six times during the game.

The officials didn’t help the Spurs tonight. They were terrible. I don’t think they cost the Spurs the game or anything, but they were awful and I think it needs to be noted. At one point they called a double foul because one of the officials called a block while the other called a charge, and they couldn’t come to an agreement. What a bunch of amateurs. They were making up rules as they went along.

It should also be noted that this was the second game of a back to back, (a SEGABABA, if you will,) for the Spurs. It was also a SEGABABA for the Blazers, but we have more old guys and playing a SEGABABA at home is much better than playing it on the road. So this was a schedule loss before the Blazers made every contested two pointer they took.

The Spurs trailed the entire game and seemed as if they were constantly moments away from being blown out, but to their credit they hung tough. The Spurs made the Blazers earn this one and cut the Blazer’s double digit lead to three in the final minutes of the game. But the Blazers took care of business and never allowed the Spurs to get over the hump.

And so the Spurs’ record falls to 2-1. They play at Denver on Tuesday and then fly back home to play the Suns on Wednesday. The schedule isn’t doing the Spurs any favors to start the season. BABAs and BABAs every where you look. Now, let’s talk about how the Spurs' players did individually.

Tim Duncan

The living legend played a great game. It turns out that that injury that Pop made up, a chest bruise or some nonsense, was just a made up injury that allowed the Spurs keep Tim from playing in both of the BABA games. Tim looked fantastic scoring 24 points and grabbing seven boards.

Kawhi Leonard

He makes me nervous. I don’t think he’s ready to be a dominant offense weapon just yet. He’s just too raw. I don’t think it was a good idea for Pop to put so much pressure on him during the offseason. I wish we didn’t call any plays for him because now he thinks he has to shoot and he’s forcing a little bit. The normally incredibly efficient Kawhi scored nine points on nine shots and had just one rebound. He looks great when the offensive motion creates his opportunities, not so much when he creates them.

Tiago Splitter

Splitter had zero points and four rebounds in 18 minutes. In my opinion, Pop didn’t play Splitter enough. I know that suddenly decisive Diaw is playing great, but our best defensive lineup is still the one with Splitter and Duncan. I think we need that lineup in the game at least 25 minutes every night.

Tony Parker

Parker played well scoring 17 points and passing for nine assists. Unfortunately, I think Lillard won this matchup. It’s a little disconcerting. Tony clearly cared and both guards were going at each other all night. Normally when that happens, Tony wins. He didn’t tonight.

Danny Green

He totally sucks. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but he needs to snap out of it. Teams are chasing him off the 3-point line and he has no response. His funky in-between game is just too funky to be productive and it has resulted in no-shows from Green to start the season.

Jeff Ayres and Aaron Baynes

I’m pretty sure Ayres is an imbecile and I hate him. If I was playing in a pick up game and someone shot the ball like Ayres, I’d tell the guy not to shoot anymore. I’m not kidding at all. And that's in a pickup game with me, not on the defending Western Conference Champs with incredible shooters at every position. What is wrong with him? His shot is the worst thing I’ve seen since Bill Cartwright’s free throw. Yet, he's pretty sure he needs to keep shooting. Thankfully, one of the coaches must have threatened his life after the Lakers game because I don’t think he threw one up tonight. But geeze, maybe Indiana gave this guy up for a good reason. I’m all for Baynes taking every minute that was meant for Ayres. Jeff needs to be thrown underneath the bench, right next to Bonner.

Boris Diaw and Manu Ginobili

Both guys are playing very aggressive to start the season. I think they both realized that they could have done more to help the team last year and are trying to do it this year.

Patty Mills and Marco Bellinelli

What a treat it is to have these guys in the second unit. I’m so glad that Pop is going with Patty Mills instead of Cory Joseph. Patty is doing everything he can to earn his minutes. He’s even playing defense this year! He was an absolute pest defending Lillard. And Bellinelli is just a gamer. He is going to help the Spurs a lot this season. He felt that the Spurs needed him tonight and he stepped up in a major way, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter and nearly leading the Spurs to an improbable victory.

Even though the Spurs lost the game, I think it was a fairly entertaining one to watch. The Spurs didn’t play poorly and didn’t quit, they just ran into a hot-shooting team and sometimes it just isn’t meant to be. Even in a losing effort, this is a fun team to watch and it’s going to be a fantastic year.