The Spurs stayed close through the first quarter of their first road game of the season on Saturday. But once Portland’s offense settled in, the Trailblazers steadily pulled away. The defense will get much of the blame, and rightly so, but San Antonio’s offense was complicit. It may be hard to imagine how an offense that put up 1.14 points per possession (PPP) could be at fault, but it’s true.
The Spurs ran their offense through the post or backed their defender down on 25 possessions in the game (up to when Pop cleared the bench with 3:28 remaining).