San Antonio Spurs vs Portland Trail Blazers: Postgame Grades Follows Spurs Loss

Mar 8, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs players (from left) Danny Green , and Kawhi Leonard , Stephen Jackson , Tiago Splitter, Manu Ginobili , Boris Diaw , and Tim Duncan watch on the bench during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at the AT

The look from the bench pretty much showed the way the game went against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.  Portland shot over 60% from the floor and was led by rookie sensation Damian Lillard who torched the Spurs for 35 points.  Lillard showed his elusiveness and his ability to get to the whole as well as hit the outside jumper.  As a team the Trail Blazers hit 13 three-pointers on their way to a 136 to 106 win in the AT&T Center.

For San Antonio, Tim Duncan added 18 and 8 rebounds while Kawhi Leonard finished with 16.  As a team the Spurs did shoot the ball well but turnovers hurt them as well as bad decisions down the stretch.  Also, defense from the Spurs was not up to par and Stephen Jackson summed it up saying that this wasn’t the San Antonio team that many have seen all year long.  Others, simply stated it was an embarrasement.

As we did after the last game, we are now going to give out our post game grades for the players.  Here we go:

PG Corey Joseph | 13 points, 5-of-8 shooting, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

Joseph did as good of a job as you could do against a player like Damian Lillard.  He did have some good steals and did play off the ball well, Lillard is just a scorer and showed his strength getting into the lane for Portland.  Joseph had a better game shooting the ball than he did a few games ago.  He finished with 13 points in just over 36 minutes of play.

Grade:  B-

SG Danny Green | 10 points, 4-of-9 shooting, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

This was the Danny Green that I wanted to see come out of the gates.  He shot the ball better and was looking for his shot.  Though he scored just 10 points, he looked better on the offensive end than he did in his last outing.

Grade:  C+

SF Kawhi Leonard | 16 points, 7-of-14 shooting, 6 rebounds

Leonard had a good game.  He had some spectacular plays that got some fans off their feet and one in which he was called for an offensive foul that got me up out of mine too.  I like his aggression and he was showing the Trail Blazers and those other teams watching that he isn’t afraid to go into the lane.

Grade:  B-

PF Tim Duncan | 18 points, 8-of-14 shooting, 8 rebounds, 3 assists

Duncan played just 23 minutes and was his usual self.  Though his shots from outside seemed flat, he didn’t get much lift into it.  Once the game seemed out of reach, Pop sat Duncan most of the way in the fourth.  Besides, we need all we can from him on Monday when San Antonio plays Oklahoma City.

Grade: B

C Tiago Splitter | 9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists

Just dunk the ball Splitter!  It just bugs me when he goes to the reverse layup all the dang time when all he has to do is punch it home.  Splitter had a rough time on the defensive end against JJ Hickson.  Who would of thought he would come out and have a game like that?  Splitter was trying to be aggressive but Hickson got the best of him.

Grade:  C+

Bench | 40 points, 16-of-34 shooting, 6 rebounds, 11 assists

Manu Ginobili paced the bench with 16 points on 6 of 15 shooting.  He did have some questionable passes as he would try to fit them in between defenders but hey that is Manu.  Patty Mills had six points and hit all three of his shots that he attempted.  DeJuan Blair played just 8 minutes but was productive in that time grabbing 4 rebounds.  He also scored 2 points.  San Antonio bench did their part in trying to keep the team in the game but it was just too much of Portland to handle.

Grade:  B-