GAMEDAY AT A GLANCE
Portland Trail Blazers (48-31) vs. Spurs (45-34)
When, where:Saturday, 8 p.m., AT&T Center
Season series: Series tied 1-1
Last meeting: Blazers 111, Spurs 110, Jan. 7, Portland
Blazers’ last game: Lost to Rockets 96-94, Thursday, Houston
Spurs’ last game: Lost to Lakers 122-112, OT, Wednesday, Los Angeles
Blazers’ last 10 games, streak: 5-5, lost two
Spurs’ last 10 games, streak: 6-4, lost two
Spurs’ injury report: Kawhi Leonard (rehabbing quad injury) is out for Saturday’s game.
Notable: The Spurs are sixth in the Western Conference standings with three games left. San Antonio has the same record as fifth-place New Orleans, but the Pelicans are seeded higher because they lead the season series against Spurs . . . The Silver and Black can clinch a playoff spot with two more victories or two losses by No. 9 Denver (44-35) . . . If the playoffs started Saturday, the Spurs would play Portland in the first round . . . San Antonio plays Sacramento in its home finale on Monday and ends the season in New Orleans on Wednesday.
GAME PREVIEW
Talk about cutting it close.
After losing back-to-back games in Los Angeles this week, the Spurs still find themselves needing two more wins – or two losses by the Denver Nuggets – to earn a playoff berth for the 21st consecutive season.
The Silver and Black responded with back-to-back home victories the last time they lost two in a road on the road, beating Oklahoma City on March 29 and Houston on Easter Sunday.
The Spurs will have a chance to do the same when they play their final two home games of the regular season, starting with Portland on Saturday night. The Trail Blazers (48-31) already have clinched a playoff spot, but they're still trying to nail down the No. 3 seed.
Portland is 0-2 in its Texas swing this week, losing to Dallas (115-109) on Tuesday and Houston (96-94) on Thursday. All-Star guard Damian Lillard missed the game in Dallas with an ankle injury, but is probable for Saturday night's game.
"Mindset's strong," Spurs guard Patty Mills said Saturday after the team's shootaround. "We just had a good shootaround, put in a game plan for tonight. (We're) focused, understand what's at stake for tonight's game, a great opportunity, a great challenge for us. We're still very much in the hunt, so it was a good shootaround this morning for a strong game tonight."
The Spurs are 31-8 at home this season, but they haven't able to carry over their success to the road. The loss to the Lakers was San Antonio's seventh in a row on the road, dropping the Silver and Black to 14-16 away from the AT&T Center. The Spurs, who have lost 11 of their last 12 road games, end the season at New Orleans on Wednesday.
San Antonio's defense also has faltered badly on the road. After holding the Rockets 83 points, their low for the season, the Spurs surrendered 41 points in the fourth quarter in the loss to the Clippers.
The Spurs' defense got torched again the next night, although the Lakers played without Lonzo Ball. The Lakers shot 54.7 percent (47/86) from the field. They were 54.2% from the three-point line (13/24). Rookie guard Kyle Kuzma had a game-high 30 points on 11-of-23 shooting, including 5 of 9 from 3.
"No explanation," Mills said, when asked why the Spurs' defense has been so porous on the road during the season's home stretch. "It's one of those things that you should be able to do no matter where you play. For whatever reason, we've been in that hole. But we can fix that tonight at home. We have been good at home, especially our defense. We're hoping to bring that back, especially tonight for sure."
Guard Danny Green said it's important that the Spurs use the next two games at home to regain their momentum.
"Just got to refocus and get back to where we were," Green said. "We're home. We've got to play the same (as) we've been playing at home, but we've got to play better on the road. Tonight, we've just got to come up with the same mindset we always had while we're on our home court."
Asked why he thought the San Antonio's defense hasn't been as tenacious on the road as it's been at home, Green said: "Good question. I don't know. We communicate better at home. Our fans are behind us. On the road, we give up way too many points, especially in second half, fourth quarters.
"Some guys have gotten hot and hit some shots. We didn't make the proper adjustments the way we should have as individuals. We've got to do better in communicating and taking pride in our individual defense, especially on the road . . . I think the biggest difference on the road is we foul too much. We put other teams on the free-throw line way too much."
All-Star power forward LaMarcus Aldridge has raised his game to another level during the season's stretch run, averaging 29.2 points. Only one other player, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, has averaged more points than Aldridge in the last 12 games.
"That's what we need him to do," Green said. "He does what he does. He's great at it. He's been leading us all year. He's been an All-Star all year. Obviously, he's playing at another level. We need him to continue that. Defensively, we've got to do more to help him. Offensively, help pick up the slack, myself included. Got to make some shots."
Up next for the Spurs after Saturday's game: vs. Sacramento, Monday, 7:30 p.m., AT&T Center.
