{"id":491514,"date":"2026-01-04T10:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T10:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491514\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T10:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T10:10:09","slug":"portland-trail-blazers-take-down-wemby-less-san-antonio-spurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/491514\/","title":{"rendered":"Portland Trail Blazers Take Down Wemby-less San Antonio Spurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

After leading by as many as 15 points, the Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> awoke from a dreamy first quarter to find the San Antonio Spurs making up the deficit and then some. Despite Shaedon Sharpe having a historically bad game, Portland rode Deni Avdija, Donovan Clingan, and Caleb Love to find just enough offense to squeak out of Texas with the 115-110 win.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t talk about this game without talking about Donovan Clingan. While he finished the game with a career-high 24 points to complement 12 boards and 4 dimes, he had 18 and 8 in the first half alone and scored the Blazers first 11 – yes, ELEVEN – points with a lob and three threes. He would have had even more assists if his teammates had converted on a few well-placed passes. With Victor Wembanyama on the sidelines, San Antonio dusted off a lightly-used Luke Kornet and a less-lightly-used Kelly Olynyk to form their center rotation. As it turns out, that\u2019s not enough to stop Clingan, who at times looked dominant before fading in the fourth, partially due to foul trouble and partially because he\u2019s enormous and still needs some seasoning before he can play 30+ high-impact minutes consistently.<\/p>\n

The fact that we can credibly expect Clingan to play that much at a high level is a very good sign for the second-year center, who has gone 26-56 from deep over his last 21 games and has been shooting around 70% from the field since the middle of last month.<\/p>\n

(I\u2019m sorry, but\u2026) Shaedon Sharpe played the worst game of basketball I\u2019ve ever seen him play adjusted for expectations. He had more turnovers (4) than made field goals (3) on 16 attempts, many of them contested and\/or awkward. He looked like an awkward baby bird more often than not, and some of his turnovers were jaw-droppingly bad, including throwing a transition pass into the ether in the fourth that led to his being benched by coach Tiago Splitter with over seven minutes left in the game, never to return.<\/p>\n

If Shaedon had played a normal game, Portland probably would have won by 20, and as their second-most talented player his worst performances should never be this bad. His futility was especially glaring as the Spurs began clamping down on Deni Avdija in the middle portion of the game, as the Blazers – already short on B+ or better on-ball creators – would have had almost nowhere else to turn if not for the early heroics of Clingan and the later heroics of Caleb Love. More on that shortly, but to finish with Sharpe: he walked away with 6 points, the aforementioned 4 turnovers, 3 boards, and 3 dimes, and notched just 2 points, a steal, and a turnover in the fourth quarter of a winnable game. That\u2019s nasty. I\u2019m not a basketball coach, but I would probably just burn his tape rather than make him review it: sometimes it\u2019s good to know when to forget something, and his performance was several notches north of forgettable.<\/p>\n

With Sharpe flailing, the Blazers needed others to step up. Of course Deni Avdija did, notching his fifth career triple double (third on the season) with 29-11-10 and just a pair of turnovers. While we\u2019ve spilled plenty of ink on Avdija this year (and rightfully so), the most important part about his game tonight was just how hard the Spurs were trying to make his life miserable. At times, it worked. But All-Stars can manufacture offense even and especially when they\u2019re being targeted. I hope those NBA pundits with All-Star voting rights go beyond the box scores and reward Deni for being Portland\u2019s alpha and omega when he has very few other options around him to spread the playmaking load, even when his second-in-command lays an ostrich-sized egg.<\/p>\n

One player who stepped up was Caleb Love, who – as Blazers fans are learning – will never lack confidence. Love finished with 16 points in his 27 minutes, but beyond the box score he was there when the team really, REALLY needed him. As the Blazers were desperate for a second offensive initiator with Sharpe struggling and Deni being covered like mold on old coffee, Love stepped up and filled that need, including giving the Blazers a 10-point lead early in the fourth with a triple, then immediately assisting on a Rayan Rupert three. While his fourth quarter box score won\u2019t jump off the page and he missed three of his four late-game free throws, it\u2019s worth reminding ourselves how he got two of those free throws in the first place: going coast-to-coast as the Spurs were trying to play full-court prevent defense. Instead of standing helplessly against the far baseline without an outlet, Love peaced out and left the Spurs wondering what was that blur that just wooshed passed them. That kind of initiative off the bench is both in theory and in practice exactly what the Blazers need to snag winnable games, especially when they are down several rotation players.<\/p>\n

Another such player was Toumani Camara. The Blazers needed each and every one of his 20 points and 8 boards. Going 5-9 from deep, Camara didn\u2019t have a standout defensive game, which is notable for a player who earns their stripes on that end\u2026 and hopefully is a sign that he can turn around what has been a disappointing shooting season so far.<\/p>\n