----- Keldon Johnson recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Malaki Branham added 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting as the San Antonio Spurs topped the Portland Trail Blazers Thursday night at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, TX.
The San Antonio Spurs got everything they wanted on Thursday night!
Keldon Johnson finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds and Malaki Branham scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting as the San Antonio Spurs (4-5) topped the Portland Trail Blazers 118-105.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, and two assists and Julian Champagnie added 14 points and six rebounds.
Deandre Ayton led Portland (3-6) with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Jerami Grant had 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Shaedon Sharpe made his season debut. He scored 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 20 minutes of action.
The Spurs took advantage of a soft Trail Blazers defense. at the end of three quarters, San Antonio was shooting 59% from the field and had 29 assists. The Spurs closed the third with a 15-8 run to push their lead to 12 at 91-79.
In the fourth, Portland cut the deficit to five at 93-88, but the Spurs responded with a 15-7 run and pushed their lead to 13 at 108-95 with 5:08 remaining. Portland did not threaten the rest of the way.
San Antonio connected on 41% of heir shots from three-point range and were +21 from beyond-the-arc.
Up Next- The Trail Blazers will travel to Minnesota for the second of a back-to-back tomorrow night against the Timberwolves. Tip off scheduled for 6:00 PM.
Chad's Take- Everything came too easy for the Spurs. Defense, three-point shooting, and points off turnovers the difference tonight.