The Spurs made history in a number of ways as they beat the Trailblazers 125-104 on Monday.
For starters, DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Rudy Gay and Patty Mills made it the first time in Spurs history that four players older than 30 scored 20 or more points. It hasn't happened in the NBA since 1998 when some guys named Olajuwon, Barkley, Drexler and Willis were playing for Houston.
For full postgame analysis from DeMar, Patty, Rudy and Coach Popovich, click here.
Game Blog
Fourth quarter
After closing the third on a 9-2 run, the Spurs opened the fourth by making it 17-2. Patty shook off the third and hit a triple, Poeltl got a putback, and Dejounte collapsed the defense and kicked to Rudy for another three. That gave them their biggest lead of the game at 13, and more threes in the first minute and a half of the fourth than they hit the entire third quarter.
Portland answered with two threes, and then Rudy knocked one down off another feed from DJ.
Melo answered with a three, and then Poeltl grabbed another offensive board and found Patty in the corner again. This time, he hit and pushed the lead back to double digits. Gay posted up and hit a tough jumper to make it 12.
Poeltl got another block, then Vassell impressively swatted Kanter at the rim, tied him up, and won the subsequent jump ball. After Lonnie broke down the defense Vassell found Gay at the arc again, and he hit his third triple in the first five minutes of the quarter. Walker pulled up for a jumper that gave the Spurs a 108-91 lead.
Gay finally missed from deep, but then grabbed the board, and falling out of bounds found Lonnie for three. That put things all the way out of reach, and the Spurs won 125-104.
Third quarter
LaMarcus Aldridge started the quarter the way he started the first, hitting three pick and pop jumpers from his office at the top of the key. The defense was active early, especially Lonnie Walker IV on Dame.
Dejounte got to the rim in transition for a bucket, then DeMar attacked to give the Spurs their biggest lead of the game at 70-60.
Portland went on a run to answer, forcing turnovers and getting out in transition. Aldridge's first post up turned into a double team, but the pass wound up going the other way. On the next possession DeRozan got stripped, and the Blazers got a dunk.
Aldridge kept scoring in the pick and pop and got up to 22 points, but Lillard got to the rim and tied it at 78.
San Antonio cooled off, shown on a play when Vassell missed a good corner three, Jakob Poeltl grabbed the board and kicked to Patty in the opposite corner, and he missed as well.
DeMar continued attacking, finding Poeltl for a dunk with a dropoff pass. He drove and missed, but Rudy Gay put it back. After a Poeltl block, Vassell found mills in transition for a layup. After some dogged offensive rebounding, DeRozan attacked and found Gay on a cut for a dunk.
San Antonio led 87-82 with 12 minutes left, surviving an ice-cold 1-10 quarter from deep.
Second quarter
Dejounte Murray pulled up for a jumper that fell, and Vassell passed out of an open three to give it to Patty in the corner for three points and a six-point lead.
Mills then hit another jumper, and a Vassell steal set him up in transition, but he passed back to Vassell who wasn't expecting it.
Second chances continued to be a problem for the Spurs, who gave up an open three to Melo. San Antonio built a 9-point lead, with threes from Johnson and Rudy Gay and a few more open jumpers for Aldridge, but the Blazers tightened up on defense, forced a few turnovers, and hit a few shots to cut it back down to 1.
DeRozan attacked again, got it out to Devin Vassell, and he splashed his second triple of the game on a stepback. DeRozan pulled up for another jumper, and sustained Spurs defense helped push the lead back to 6.
The game went back and forth with alternating spurts of shooting and defense from both teams, but Mills closed the quarter with a deep step-back three to give San Antonio a 59-54 halftime lead.
First quarter
LaMarcus Aldridge played most of his career in Portland, and the first four Spurs plays all ended in pick and pop jumpers for LA. He hit three of the first four from mid-range, then missed a three.
Rodney Hood hit his first three shots of the game though, and Portland jumped out to a 12-8 lead. Keldon Johnson drove and hit a floater, then lost it on his next drive.
Aldridge got another pick and pop look, pump faked, took a dribble, spun Enes Kanter around, and drilled a shot in his face. He was gifted another open shot from his spot, but missed. Everything else was defended by Portland pretty tightly.
San Antonio's team defense did a decent job as well, forcing a few bad shots and turnovers that led to transition opportunities. DeRozan finished a transition break by lobbing it near the rim, where Keldon tipped it in to tie the game at 14.
Patty Mills, another former Blazer, took a handoff from Aldridge and hit a tough three. Damian Lillard answered with the same play the other way. Mills then finished a layup off a cut, and looked like he hit a three and one before it was called back. DeRozan got in close for a bucket though, giving the Spurs a 6-0 run and a 23-20 lead.
Lillard drew a foul on a drive, then smacked into a teammate causing some discomfort. Jakob Poeltl then smacked him in the face on the next drive. Bumps and lumps aside, he hit the free throws.
With Aldridge on the bench, DeRozan took over. He hit a shot in deep off a nice feed from rookie Devin Vassell, then he ran pick and roll and found Vassell in the corner for three. He pulled up for a mid-range and swished it, then grabbed a board and found Poeltl in transition for a dunk.
San Antonio closed the quarter on a 6-0 run, giving them a 32-28 lead. They shot 61% from the floor, their best shooting quarter of the season.