SAN ANTONIO — You know what they say about the NBA. No matter how the game goes in the first three quarters, the outcome is usually determined in the final five minutes.
That pretty much would describe the Spurs' 113-110 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night at the AT&T Center.
The Blazers jumped out to a 19-point lead in the first quarter, but the Silver and Black outscored them 26-18 in the second period to trim the deficit to 51-45 at the half.
San Antonio grabbed the momentum in the third quarter, outscoring Portland 37-20 to take an 82-71 lead into the fourth period. The Spurs built a 19-point lead of their own before the Blazers rallied and nearly pulled out the victory.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich liked the poise his players demonstrated after falling behind by such a large margin early in the game.
"They were great -- from the beginning and hung in and just played, played, played," Popovich said. "Great game for both teams."
DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points and Derrick White had 21 off the bench for the Silver and Black (3-0).
The game ended with Portland All-Star guard Damian Lillard's corner three-pointer rimming out as the buzzer sounded.
DeRozan had a big third quarter, scoring 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He also went 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. White got his 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and he added five rebounds and three assists.
"He was fantastic," Popovich said of White. "Derrick had a great game. He looks like himself now. He was super in a lot of different ways."
Lillard scored a game-high 28 points and CJ McCollum, the other half of the Blazers' dynamic duo, finished with 27. Lillard had only 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting through three quarters, but he broke loose in the final period.
"We were on him," Popovich said. "He made shots. I thought he drove it too easily, that's for sure. We didn't stay in front of him very well down the stretch. He's a great player. He put it on himself to just take it and attack the rim, he he did and we didn't stay in front of him very well."
Shifting to another gear, Lillard had 18 points in the fourth quarter, hitting 6 of 12 shots, including two three-pointers.
"It happened out of nowhere," Spurs guard Bryn Forbes said, referring to Lillard's scoring in the fourth quarter. "He only had 10 (points) at the start of the fourth and just went off. It's hard to stop a guy like that when he gets going. One of the most talented players in the NBA, and he had a great fourth quarter.
Monday night's game capped a three-game homestand for the Spurs. It was also the first of four games in seven days against Western Conference opponents for the Silver and Black.
San Antonio plays the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors on the road in its first back-to-back of the season Thursday and Friday, and squares off against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday at the AT&T Center.
The Blazers, who edged the Mavericks 121-119 in Dallas on Sunday night, slipped to 2-2.
LaMarcus Aldridge (15), Forbes (14) and Patty Mills (12) rounded out the Spurs' double-figure scoring. Dejounte Murray finished with only seven points, but he also had seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists.
The Spurs shot 48.2 percent overall (41-85) for the game. They were 7 of 22 (31.8 percent) from the three-point line. San Antonio had only one made three-pointer in the first half.
Portland shot 39 percent (39-100) and was 10 of 33 (30.3 percent) from beyond the arc. The Blazers made only two three-pointers in the second half after getting eight in the first two quarters.
McCollum scored 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 3 of 5 from the three-point line, to help the Blazers take a 51-45 lead at the half. Portland led 33-19 after one quarter, but the Spurs outscored the Blazers 26-18 in the second period to trim the deficit to six points.
Portland shot 50 percent (12-24) from the field overall in the first period and 66.7 percent (6-9) from three.
The Blazers outscored Spurs 18-0 from the three-point line in the first quarter. Portland was 6 of 9 from beyond the arc. McCollum led the Blazers with 10 points, and was 2 of 3 from long distance.
Portland outscored San Antonio 24-3 from beyond the arc in the first two quarters, knocking down 8 of 18 attempts. The Spurs didn't make a three-pointer until Rudy Gay hit one with 28 seconds left in the half. They were 1 of 9 from long distance in the first two quarters.
White led the Silver and Black's scoring in the first half, getting 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. San Antonio shot 45 percent overall (18-40) in the first two quarters.
Guarded primarily by Murray, Lillard had only three points at the half. He was 1 of 6 from the field, with his only basket a three-pointer.
The Blazers shot 39.2 percent (20-51) from the field in the first half.
