SAN ANTONIO — Manu Ginobili went on a personal 8-0 run in the fourth quarter and LaMarcus Aldridge scored 28 points to help the San Antonio Spurs beat Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers 116-105 on Saturday night.
The Spurs (46-34) snapped a two-game losing streak. They are tied with Oklahoma City and New Orleans for fifth in the Western Conference, a half-game back of idle Utah.
San Antonio can clinch a playoff spot with a victory over visiting Sacramento on Monday.
Portland (48-32) dropped its third consecutive game and missed out on an opportunity to clinch home-court advantage in the first round. Lillard had 33 points for the Trail Blazers, and Evan Turner finished with 18.
Former All-Star teammates Aldridge and Lillard dueled on a night when both teams shot well from the field.
Lillard was 11 for 22, including 6 for 12 from beyond the arc.
Aldridge made his first five shots, including a left-handed runner he seemed to throw up to rebound against the smaller double-team on him. He finished 13 for 22.
Ginobili gave San Antonio a needed boost, scoring 17 points on 7-for-7 shooting. Ginobili had back-to-back 3-pointers followed by a right-handed layup against Al-Farouq Aminu to turn a four-point game into a 101-89 lead.
Dejounte Murray finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio.
The Spurs outscored the Blazers 12-5 in the opening 5 minutes of the second half.
Turner departed in the final minute with a cut along his right brow caused by an inadvertent blow by Murray on a rebound.
C.J. McCollum added 17 points for the Blazers, who have lost three straight.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: CJ McCollum scored 17 points, and Jusuf Nurkic had 12 points and 12 rebounds. … Nurkic received a technical foul with 36.4 seconds left in the first half for yelling at official Curtis Blair for a foul assessed to him on a drive by Murray. … Maurice Harkless missed his seventh straight game with an injured left knee. … Ed Davis missed his fourth straight game due to an injured right ankle.
Spurs: Pau Gasol played in his 1,194th career game, moving past Alex English for 42nd in league history. … Danny Green was assessed his first technical foul of the season with 10:40 remaining in the first half. After missing a layup, Green began jumping and clapping his hands angrily because no foul was called on Meyers Leonard. … The Spurs hold an 84-82 lead against the Trail Blazers in their overall series.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: Visit Denver on Monday night.
Spurs: Host Sacramento on Monday night.
[relatedlinks]