The Portland Trail Blazers want revenge. The team completed a dominated 2013-14 season by making the playoffs for the first time in three seasons and made it to the second round. Things were looking good until they met the San Antonio Spurs and were promptly ousted in five games. The Spurs beat Portland by an average of 19.5 points in four of the games ending the dream season. Now, Portland is on a roll once again as they face the Spurs who have inched towards inconsistent this year.
The Trail Blazers have Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge once again leading the path. When both players are on the court, the Blazers are 6-2 against the Spurs in the regular season. Lillard has averaged 27.8 points on 50.0 percent shooting while Aldridge is putting up a 56.5 career field percentage while averaging 25.4 points in his last five games against San Antonio. This season has been no different as Portland has won the first two meetings against the Spurs. The most recent game came with three overtimes as Lillard put up 43 points and Aldridge added 32 with 16 rebounds.
The matchup with the Spurs is the start of a tough stretch for the Trail Blazers. Of the 15 games prior to the All-Start break, nine of those are on the road including games against Memphis and several Western Conference contenders. They only have three losses in the past 16 games which bodes well for their matchup on Friday.
The Spurs are currently seventh in the Western Conference which is a rare spot for San Antonio. They are 7-9 since mid-December. According to ESPN, Five of those seven wins have come by just seven points or fewer. They have a 10-game stretch before the All-Star break that consists of eight home games which they are hoping to take advantage of.
The issue is their struggling set of starters. Manu Ginobili is putting up his third-lowest field-goal percentage of his career at 42.6 percent. Tony Parker has been dealing with injuries. The Spurs will need their stars to step up if they are going to return to being Western Conference contenders.
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