Blazers, Spurs square off with fleeting postseason hopes on the line
The Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs look to keep their waning postseason chances alive when they square off Sunday in a late-season Western Conference game.
Neither team has been officially eliminated from playoff contention.
Portland (34-44) still has the best chance of the two of working its way into the postseason. The Trail Blazers are three spots and three and a half games behind 10th-place Sacramento with just four games to play after a 118-113 loss in Chicago on Friday.
Deni Avdija led the short-handed Trail Blazers with 37 points and 11 rebounds in the loss while Dalano Banton contributed 21 points, Shaedon Sharpe hit for 17 points and Donovan Clingan pulled in 18 rebounds for Portland.
The Trail Blazers hung tough despite having six key players (including leading scorer Anfernee Simons, Jerami Grant, Deandre Ayton and Scoot Henderson) on the sidelines with injuries. Portland committed a season-low five turnovers in the setback and had 20 second-chance points off 19 offensive rebounds, seven of those from Clingan.
"Our offensive rebounds really hurt Chicago throughout the night," Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. "We didn't shoot it well anywhere, to be honest with you. But offensive rebounds kept us in it."
Portland has dropped five of its past seven games. To surpass the Kings, the Trail Blazers must win their final four games and have Sacramento lose its final five because the Kings also hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Spurs (32-45) head to the Pacific Northwest for the first of a four-game road trip and after a 114-113 loss to East-leading Cleveland on Friday.
San Antonio roared from behind in the final three minutes against the Cavaliers, forging a 14-2 run to pull within a point with 4.6 seconds to play. But Harrison Barnes missed a contested layup at the buzzer, dropping the Spurs to the sixth loss in their past seven games.
"These guys have found a way to not go away numerous times and that just speaks to them individually and collectively as a group," San Antonio acting coach Mitch Johnson said about his team. "You wish that ball would've bounced in for their sake because they put so much into this deal. It's very rewarding as a coach at times to have that type of fight in your team."
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 24 points in the loss, while Barnes added 23. Stephon Castle racked up 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds and Julian Champagnie scored 15 points. San Antonio trailed by 23 in the second quarter and by 16 in the fourth before fighting back.
"In the second half, we did a better job of fighting, getting back into it," Barnes said afterward. "But the deficit that we created in the first half, I think that's where the growth opportunity is for us -- avoiding those situations."
San Antonio sits five games in back of Sacramento with five games remaining in the regular season.
The Spurs have captured the first three games against Portland in the season series, winning twice at home on Nov. 7 and Dec. 21, respectively, and in Rip City on Dec. 13.
--Field Level Media
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