San Antonio Spurs beat Portland Trail Blazers 114-93 on the road on Sunday, April 26, after falling far behind. The Spurs were down 17 at one quarter break and still finished 21 ahead.
The game, quarter by quarter
The Trail Blazers had the better start, winning the first 25-23 to lead by 2 after one. The Trail Blazers kept the pressure on with a 33-18 second quarter, carrying a 17-point lead into halftime.
The Spurs won the third 33-16 to pull even, leaving the game tied at 74 entering the fourth. The Spurs took the fourth 40-19; the Spurs finished the job for a 114-93 regulation win.
What flipped it
The Spurs got more from their shots, finishing at 57.5% effective field-goal shooting compared with 46.3% for the Trail Blazers. The Spurs took better care of the ball, turning it over on 12.3% of possessions compared with 17.8% for the Trail Blazers. That shooting gap supplied the clearest edge.
The Trail Blazers did win one battle, the free-throw line: FT rate of 23.8 against 16.1. The Spurs made up for it elsewhere.
At roughly 99 possessions per team, the Spurs produced 114.8 points per 100 possessions to 93.7 for the Trail Blazers.
Who carried the comeback
Victor Wembanyama was the game's biggest individual force for SAS: 27 pts, 12 reb, 3 ast, 4 stl, 7 blk on 9-17 shooting. His Game Score of 28.5 led everyone. His team was +28 with him on the floor.
Deni Avdija led the Trail Blazers with 26 pts, 7 reb, 3 ast on 8-14 shooting, good for a 16.8 Game Score.
Victor Wembanyama (27 pts, 12 reb, 3 ast) recorded a double-double.
What it means
The pre-game Win Meter had it close to a coin flip, at about 65% for the Spurs.
Across the last 10 meetings in our records, San Antonio Spurs lead 7-3.
Written automatically by Tip Off Live software from box score data. Ratings and probabilities are our own model estimates.