So, what happened tonight?

[Spurs21Fan4Ever]

I watched the first quarter, and missed the rest cause I had a basketball game. I recorded the game, but after seeing the score decided it wasn't worth watching. Was the 2nd half a story of Portland shooting flukishly well, Spurs shooting horribly, and the Spurs playing with low energy and no urgency? After seeing the 1st quarter, I knew the Spurs were going to lose. They showed no signs of life, it's as if they didn't care if they lost and just wanted to finish Portland off in game 5. Is there any reason for concern or will Spurs just beat Portland up on Wednesday?

[capek]

I watched the first quarter, and missed the rest cause I had a basketball game. I recorded the game, but after seeing the score decided it wasn't worth watching. Was the 2nd half a story of Portland shooting flukishly well, Spurs shooting horribly, and the Spurs playing with low energy and no urgency? After seeing the 1st quarter, I knew the Spurs were going to lose. They showed no signs of life, it's as if they didn't care if they lost and just wanted to finish Portland off in game 5. Is there any reason for concern or will Spurs just beat Portland up on Wednesday?

Basically covers it.

[Horry Hipcheck]

I watched the first quarter, and missed the rest cause I had a basketball game. I recorded the game, but after seeing the score decided it wasn't worth watching. Was the 2nd half a story of Portland shooting flukishly well, Spurs shooting horribly, and the Spurs playing with low energy and no urgency? After seeing the 1st quarter, I knew the Spurs were going to lose. They showed no signs of life, it's as if they didn't care if they lost and just wanted to finish Portland off in game 5. Is there any reason for concern or will Spurs just beat Portland up on Wednesday?

Blazers decided to show up for the first time, and when it was obvious the Spurs weren't going to run away with the win Pop made some decisions that ultimately solidified the defeat in what I think was an attempt to let the loss sink in and have the most effect on the players. They've got a big series coming up and maybe pulling the plug after four straight dominant wins was exactly what needed to happen to these guys heading to the Conference finals.

Off to an iffy start, Pop pulled the rug on purpose, gave the game away. Means nothing. More of Games 1-3 to come on Wednesday.

[Kidd K]

Blazers came out playing hard, but honestly the game got decided during a short stretch in the 3rd where the Blazers kept jacking up drifting three point shots (as if there's 1 sec left and they need 3 to tie) and they miraculously kept going in. That was on either 4 straight possessions or on like 4/5 or 4/6, with a layup or two mixed in. Spurs were cold at that moment and honestly that was the game right there. Blazers got a big lead, momentum, confidence, and the crowd going all at once.

Tbh on a normal day those garbage shots are 1/4 and the game's totally different.



Oh, and Spurs shot nearly 20 threes and made only 2 until the final irrelevant seconds where they got a 3rd.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Dude, and I am not being a conspiracy theorist, you can tell from the 1st quarter the Spurs weren't going to win. Not b/c the Blazers were out playing them but b/c they were basically going to throw this game. WHY?????

I believe Pop didn't want a sweep. That would be potentially a week off without playing. Pop IMO wanted the Spurs to lose this one b/c he didn't want to rust factor to set between the next series. Next Series could start either Sunday or Monday.

Pop look disinterested pretty much the entire game. Parker looked disinterested. He only attack the basket like twice the whole game. Pop played the benched the majority of the minutes and they are the ones that kept the Spurs in the game. Not taking anything away from Portland but I felt a vibe from the 1st quarter that the Spurs didn't really want to win this game.

[ceperez]

Dude, and I am not being a conspiracy theorist, you can tell from the 1st quarter the Spurs weren't going to win. Not b/c the Blazers were out playing them but b/c they were basically going to throw this game. WHY?????

I believe Pop didn't want a sweep. That would be potentially a week off without playing. Pop IMO wanted the Spurs to lose this one b/c he didn't want to rust factor to set between the next series. Next Series could start either Sunday or Monday.

Pop look disinterested pretty much the entire game. Parker looked disinterested. He only attack the basket like twice the whole game. Pop played the benched the majority of the minutes and they are the ones that kept the Spurs in the game. Not taking anything away from Portland but I felt a vibe from the 1st quarter that the Spurs didn't really want to win this game.

I agree. I don't recall seeing Pop screaming at his players like the last game.

There is a certain level of confidence that the Spurs can put the Blazers away at anytime.

[GrandeDavid]

Amazingly the Spurs were about even with the players up till early to midway through the 3rd quarter then their collective flatness gave way to a much more aggressive and hungrier Portland barrage. The Spurs looked collectively flat, simple as that. If there are any positives its that the starters didn't log heavy minutes, nobody got injured and if that's the best Portland can play, then the Spurs should be able to win handily on Wednesday. But on the other side of the coin, the Blazers pretty much kicked the Spurs' asses hard from about midway through the 3rd quarter until garbage time. They obviously have a dose of confidence now and surely believe they can win on Wednesday.

In other words, the Spurs, ALL of the Spurs, must show up on Wednesday or this will go back to Portland. I'm still shocked that no NBA team has ever come back from down 0-3...

[EVAY]

They threw the game.

[GrandeDavid]

Dude, and I am not being a conspiracy theorist, you can tell from the 1st quarter the Spurs weren't going to win. Not b/c the Blazers were out playing them but b/c they were basically going to throw this game. WHY?????

I believe Pop didn't want a sweep. That would be potentially a week off without playing. Pop IMO wanted the Spurs to lose this one b/c he didn't want to rust factor to set between the next series. Next Series could start either Sunday or Monday.

Pop look disinterested pretty much the entire game. Parker looked disinterested. He only attack the basket like twice the whole game. Pop played the benched the majority of the minutes and they are the ones that kept the Spurs in the game. Not taking anything away from Portland but I felt a vibe from the 1st quarter that the Spurs didn't really want to win this game.

There is absolutely no way on earth Pop or any player wanted to lose last night. There is no sense in risking another entire game, not only from a fatigue, injury and momentum standpoint, but also in allowing an opponent to get a shot of confidence. You can bet your life savings that the Spurs by no means set out to lose last night. They got their asses beat by the Blazers, hands down. The good news is that as poorly as the Spurs played, they were in the ballgame up until close to midway through the 3rd. Credit to the Blazers.

[Beaverfuzz]

Notice the lack of timeouts to yell at someone and/or get his point across. Spurs kept it close (6 or less) and then the barn doors flew open and it was 12-14 before you knew it.

One big thing to notice is that Danny played quite a bit at the end...think he was in the doghouse for his crappy play.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

There is absolutely no way on earth Pop or any player wanted to lose last night. There is no sense in risking another entire game, not only from a fatigue, injury and momentum standpoint, but also in allowing an opponent to get a shot of confidence. You can bet your life savings that the Spurs by no means set out to lose last night. They got their asses beat by the Blazers, hands down. The good news is that as poorly as the Spurs played, they were in the ballgame up until close to midway through the 3rd. Credit to the Blazers.

Then why he go with the bench like 7 minutes into the game. Also, why did he put the 2nd and 3rd unit for most of the 4th. Pop didn't yell at one single player. He basically had the same look the entire game.

Nobody was attacking the basket. Nobody other than Mills and the 3rd stringers were aggressive. Spurs looked flat and like they didn't even care. I have watched hundreds of the Spurs games under Pop and you can tell when he doesn't care about winning a particular game.

The one they I feared about the Spurs sweeping was that LAC/OKC would be still fired up from their series and a rusted Spurs team would lose the 1st game in the next series. Look how the Mavs series turned out. Mavs fought for their playoff lives at the end of the season and it carried over into the series, while the Spurs were just going through the motions at season end.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

Just to make another point, Spurs only had 13 ast. Why?? Because they weren't attacking the basket and kicking out. It was just screen and shot all night. No penetration whatsoever.

62 points in the paint for the Blazers last night (tied for most given up by the Spurs under Pop in a playoff game) when they were only getting like 20-30 the previous games. Why, because i saw half the Spurs weren't even running back on defense most of last night, which led to a lot of easy points for the Blazers. Some people obviously didn't watch the game last night but the Spurs look like season end shutdown mode last night.

No ball movement, No penetration, No intensity on D, Bench coming into the game like 5 minutes into the game. I would bet my life savings that Pop told Parker and Co. not to get aggressive and drive to the basket and try to avoid injury. Spurs threw last night game. Game 5 will be the Spurs prep game for game 1 of the next series. Knowing the Blazers will be fighting for the playoff, the Spurs are going to be tested at home like they would against LAC or OKC.

Its like Reggie even said last night and I have said numerous times on this board, Pop does things to prepare his team that other coaches don't do. He uses different lineups against playoff teams over the course of the season so he knows what works and don't work come playoff, even if it results in a Spurs loss. This is coming from Reggie Miller who doesn't watch as many games as we do and he stills sees this.

[SsKSpurs21]

Dude, and I am not being a conspiracy theorist, you can tell from the 1st quarter the Spurs weren't going to win. Not b/c the Blazers were out playing them but b/c they were basically going to throw this game. WHY?????

I believe Pop didn't want a sweep. That would be potentially a week off without playing. Pop IMO wanted the Spurs to lose this one b/c he didn't want to rust factor to set between the next series. Next Series could start either Sunday or Monday.

Pop look disinterested pretty much the entire game. Parker looked disinterested. He only attack the basket like twice the whole game. Pop played the benched the majority of the minutes and they are the ones that kept the Spurs in the game. Not taking anything away from Portland but I felt a vibe from the 1st quarter that the Spurs didn't really want to win this game.

There is some underlying truth to this. if you look back at game 3, Spurs up by 20 and pop is screaming and yelling at parker and duncan for missing a rotation that led to an easy layup. yesterday when the blazers went on the run he just let the starters get hammered, no time outs, not calls from the sidelines.

Noone wants to lose a game. you play to win. we were getting killed on the boards, missing easy shots, and no defense but still only down 2. you can tell the players were mailing it in so pop said screw it.

[weebo]

The Spurs played without focus and effort from the get go. Pop saw it and rolled with it. Who knows why he didn't call a time out to bitch to his team like he usually does, maybe because he wanted to teach the team some humility?

[Spur|n|Austin]

Notice the lack of timeouts to yell at someone and/or get his point across. Spurs kept it close (6 or less) and then the barn doors flew open and it was 12-14 before you knew it.

One big thing to notice is that Danny played quite a bit at the end...think he was in the doghouse for his crappy play.

He's been despicable.

[TheGoldStandard]

Manu hasn't faired any better either. Series MVP so far is Parker and it looked like he was already back in San Antonio last night.

[DarrinS]

What happened last night?


Stotts put in some random scrub. Spurs were like "the fuck?". Lillard dunked on Timmay and yelled "I'm Rick James, Bitch!". It was all downhill after that.

[Jimcs50]

Peter Holt wanted an extra home game. He needs the dough.

[Capster]

Well you can talk about all the strategies.....but I can tell you my opinion that is was the most Disappointing, butt ugly, horrible game I have ever seen! I was expecting a sweeeeep! Hope to see the SPURS in game 5!

[urunobili]

Manu back in full 6 mode tbh

[boutons_deux]

Having won the series with 3 blowouts, the Spurs treated Game4 as maintain-rhythm scrimmage.

[Horse]

There is absolutely no way on earth Pop or any player wanted to lose last night. There is no sense in risking another entire game, not only from a fatigue, injury and momentum standpoint, but also in allowing an opponent to get a shot of confidence. You can bet your life savings that the Spurs by no means set out to lose last night. They got their asses beat by the Blazers, hands down. The good news is that as poorly as the Spurs played, they were in the ballgame up until close to midway through the 3rd. Credit to the Blazers.

Ofcourse they didn't want to lose but as soon as they saw portland wasn't gonna lay down they threw in the towel.

[xellos88330]

It looked like the Spurs were somewhat engaged in the first quarter, then after that they were just going through the motions. It was surprising that the game wasn't blown open by the Blazers sooner.

[kidd_91]

Sorry, it was my fault. I have this Duncan jersey and every time I wore it during the Mavs season we lost. So I stopped wearing it before game 7 and after the 3 games of ripping the Blazers I thought it was safe to wear again. I guess not.

[will_spurs]

I just finished watching the game. For all I know it was a private training session for Duncan to practice his jump shot from the top of the key. All the players (and Pop) looked so uninterested. They didn't even react when they got 2 FTs or an and-1. Everybody was listless. I don't know if it was just fatigue or mental breakdown, but that was the reality of it.

If anything I think this game was even worse for the Blazers: despite playing with intensity they were only up 2 at the half, and it took all of Manu's might to airball a 3 while wiiiiiiide open then foul Batum for a 4-point play to spark the Blazers decisive run. Based on this, it's pretty clear to me the Blazers are fucked. It was their best shot, and they still sucked most of the time.

[EVAY]

Sorry, it was my fault. I have this Duncan jersey and every time I wore it during the Mavs season we lost. So I stopped wearing it before game 7 and after the 3 games of ripping the Blazers I thought it was safe to wear again. I guess not.

Well, there you are then. At least we have figured it out.

[TheRemix]

Sorry, it was my fault. I have this Duncan jersey and every time I wore it during the Mavs season we lost. So I stopped wearing it before game 7 and after the 3 games of ripping the Blazers I thought it was safe to wear again. I guess not.
Wtf man? Stop wearing it then. I bet you wore it on game 6 last yer

[hater]

Belli came to close these fuckers out but the rest of his team shit the bed tbh

[Sean Cagney]

Dude, and I am not being a conspiracy theorist, you can tell from the 1st quarter the Spurs weren't going to win. Not b/c the Blazers were out playing them but b/c they were basically going to throw this game. WHY?????

I believe Pop didn't want a sweep. That would be potentially a week off without playing. Pop IMO wanted the Spurs to lose this one b/c he didn't want to rust factor to set between the next series. Next Series could start either Sunday or Monday.

Pop look disinterested pretty much the entire game. Parker looked disinterested. He only attack the basket like twice the whole game. Pop played the benched the majority of the minutes and they are the ones that kept the Spurs in the game. Not taking anything away from Portland but I felt a vibe from the 1st quarter that the Spurs didn't really want to win this game.
I said to a few at the beginning of the game that the way the game looked and body language out there that they were not going to win the game. I got the old have faith and so on crap but you can kind of tell the way a game is going early! I just did not have the feeling they were going to win last night.

[Sean Cagney]

I just finished watching the game. For all I know it was a private training session for Duncan to practice his jump shot from the top of the key. All the players (and Pop) looked so uninterested. They didn't even react when they got 2 FTs or an and-1. Everybody was listless. I don't know if it was just fatigue or mental breakdown, but that was the reality of it.

If anything I think this game was even worse for the Blazers: despite playing with intensity they were only up 2 at the half, and it took all of Manu's might to airball a 3 while wiiiiiiide open then foul Batum for a 4-point play to spark the Blazers decisive run. Based on this, it's pretty clear to me the Blazers are fucked. It was their best shot, and they still sucked most of the time.
That airball three and the 4 point play right after was the ballgame, period.

[Horry Hipcheck]

There is absolutely no way on earth Pop or any player wanted to lose last night. There is no sense in risking another entire game, not only from a fatigue, injury and momentum standpoint, but also in allowing an opponent to get a shot of confidence. You can bet your life savings that the Spurs by no means set out to lose last night. They got their asses beat by the Blazers, hands down. The good news is that as poorly as the Spurs played, they were in the ballgame up until close to midway through the 3rd. Credit to the Blazers.

Poor lineup choices. No timeouts. No screaming. Splitter played 22 minutes. No Parker in the 4th. Pop cared about winning for all of around 24 minutes. Credit to Portland for finally making shots, but the Spurs gave up on this one at halftime.

The risk of injury in an "extra game" like Game 5 is the same as it is in any upcoming game in the WCF. The scheduling wasn't going to give the Spurs a lot more time to rest if they'd finished in 4 than if they do in 5. Trade that for reminding this team that they can lose and can lose badly going into what's sure to be a murderous affair with OKC. Nobody wants to lose, but Pop very clearly saw the loss coming and decided to let it happen.

Fact remains that the Spurs are going to the WCF. No team has ever rebounded from 0-3, and the first team to do it is NOT going to be a team coached by Terry Stotts consisting of five starters and a injury-saddled Mo Williams and LITERALLY NOBODY ELSE. 6 men are not going to win four straight games after the shellacking the Spurs dished out in Games 1-3. If the Spurs merely shot to their average from three point range on Monday they'd have won. Bad defense, lucky shooting from Portland, and a bad night from the FT line aside, if the Spurs made just four more three pointers than the 3 they managed to sink, the series is over. Period.

So no, they didn't show up planning to lose. But when it was evident they weren't going to waltz to a 20 point win, Pop obviously pulled the plug. Let the loss sink in for a couple of days, finish them in 5, keep that focus for what's coming. CIA Pop, nothing more. Blazers were done a long time ago.