LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum had monster games to combine for 33 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists to help defeat the San Antonio Spurs at the Mako center Monday night. Damian Lillard chipped in 25 points and five assists in the Blazers 92-103 victory.
“It was about wanting it more.,” Lillard said after the game. “The Spurs are a championship team, but we didn’t want to be that team to get swept, or the team that facing uphill battle that gave up. We weren’t ready to go home.”
The Spurs were led by Tony Parker’s 14 points while Tim Duncan and Boris Diaw chipped in 12 and Kwai Leonard’s 10 points but it wasn’t enough to overcome a strong start from the Blazers.
“The energy was weird tonight,” Parker said. “You have to give a lot of credit to Portland. They played great. They came out of the gates and I thought Batum was great tonight. He gave them a big boost.”