San Antonio Spurs (62-20, second in the Western Conference) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (42-40, eighth in the Western Conference)
Portland, Oregon; Friday, 10:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Spurs -1.5; over/under is 220.5
WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Series tied 1-1
BOTTOM LINE: The Portland Trail Blazers host the San Antonio Spurs in game three of the Western Conference first round with the series tied 1-1. The Trail Blazers defeated the Spurs 106-103 in the last meeting on Wednesday. Scoot Henderson led the Trail Blazers with 31 points, and Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 18.
The Trail Blazers are 29-23 in conference matchups. Portland averages 16.5 turnovers per game and is 16-9 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents.
The Spurs have gone 36-16 against Western Conference opponents. San Antonio ranks seventh in the Western Conference with 11.4 offensive rebounds per game led by Luke Kornet averaging 3.5.
The Trail Blazers are shooting 45.3% from the field this season, 0.2 percentage points higher than the 45.1% the Spurs allow to opponents. The Spurs are shooting 48.3% from the field, 1.2% higher than the 47.1% the Trail Blazers' opponents have shot this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Deni Avdija is averaging 24.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists for the Trail Blazers. Jrue Holiday is averaging 18.0 points over the last 10 games.
Victor Wembanyama is scoring 25.0 points per game and averaging 11.5 rebounds for the Spurs. Julian Champagnie is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Trail Blazers: 6-4, averaging 112.3 points, 44.5 rebounds, 24.3 assists, 9.0 steals and 6.1 blocks per game while shooting 45.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 106.8 points per game.
Spurs: 7-3, averaging 120.6 points, 47.6 rebounds, 28.3 assists, 7.7 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 48.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 111.7 points.
INJURIES: Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard: out for season (achilles).
Spurs: Jordan McLaughlin: day to day (ankle), David Jones Garcia: out for season (ankle), Victor Wembanyama: day to day (concussion protocol), Harrison Barnes: day to day (wrist).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
