The Spurs were in complete control Tuesday night, dominating the Blazers on both ends of the court and locking up the three-point line.
San Antonio looked downright terrifying on Sunday when it closed out the Mavericks. Tuesday night, the Spurs were at it again. They came out with a vengeance, pushing the Trail Blazers off the arc and out of the lane as they dominated in a Game 1 win, 116-92.
The Spurs embarrassed Portland out of the gate. San Antonio showed hard on screens with Damian Lillard, chasing the second-year guard off the three-point line without allowing him space in the middle. LaMarcus Aldridge couldn't get anything going on the left side of the floor, looking for foul calls on elbow jumpers that the Spurs had obviously game-planned to avoid.
San Antonio was absolutely on fire, as Portland couldn't seem to contest their shots well enough to bother their jump shooters. Tony Parker weaved and bobbed around picks, pressuring Lillard to defend the crafty guard. The Spurs shot a ridiculous 50.6 percent on the night, including 43.8 percent from three.
Portland shot just 37.8 percent, going 4-of-16 from beyond the arc. San Antonio did an especially good job stopping the Blazers' flow offense, limiting Portland to just nine assists in total.
For San Antonio, Tony Parker led the way with 33 points on 13-of-24 shooting, adding nine assists, three rebounds and one steal. Marco Belinelli scored 19 in an effort off the bench, going 3-of-5 from three-point range and adding three assists with one assist and a steal. Kawhi Leonard scored 16.
LaMarcus Aldridge was the leading scorer for Portland, totaling 32 points on 12-of-25 shooting, adding 14 rebounds and two steals. Damian Lillard scored 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Nicolas Batum scored 10 and had the only three-pointer out of any Blazers starter.
Game 2 is at 9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 8 in San Antonio and will air on ESPN 2.