Portland 65, San Antonio 72 (loss 38-39)

Sunday, April 6, 2008
By ANNE M. PETERSON, AP Sports Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)—The San Antonio Spurs are not letting up now that they’ve secured a place in the playoffs. There’s too much scrambling in the Western Conference.

Tim Duncan had 27 points and 11 rebounds and San Antonio beat Portland 72-65 on Sunday, extending the Spurs’ winning streak over the Trail Blazers to 12 straight games.

“It’s tough because every game really, really counts. At this point of the season usually you get to rest a little more and relax a little more,” Duncan said. But now, every game is a big game.”

San Antonio is among a handful of teams who can bump New Orleans out of the top spot in the West. With the win against Portland, the Spurs moved within 1 1/2 games of the Hornets.

Manu Ginobili’s dunk with 1:31 left all but sealed it for the Spurs, who handed the Blazers their fifth consecutive loss. Ginobili finished with 10 points and six assists.

The Spurs were coming off a 90-64 loss at Utah on Friday that snapped an eight-game winning streak. But the defending NBA champions clinched a playoff spot on Saturday when the Sacramento Kings beat the Denver Nuggets 118-115.

San Antonio’s Tony Parker hit consecutive baskets, a running jumper and a jumper from the top of the key, to make it 70-60 with 3:37 left in the game.

“In past season with five games to go, you knew you could be first, second, third or even fourth, and that’s it. This year it could be seventh, so it puts pressure on everybody,” Ginobili said. “We cant slow down, we have to keep playing.”

All-Star guard Brandon Roy, who returned after a four-game absence because of a groin injury, led the Blazers (38-38) with 18 points. Travis Outlaw added 14 and LaMarcus Aldridge had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Portland, eliminated from playoff contention last week, was coming off a 95-86 loss to Houston on Thursday. With five games left, the Trail Blazers hope to finish with a winning record.

“Of course winning is the goal to finish out the season. We want to win every game,” Aldridge said. “We wanted to win tonight but the ball didn’t bounce our way.”

The Blazers were without starter Martell Webster, who suited up for Thursday night’s game but experienced dizziness and flu-like symptoms and was taken to a hospital. Webster spent the night when doctors found an irregular heartbeat and he was not at Sunday’s game.

The Blazers also lost center Joel Przybilla, who broke a bone in his right hand during the second quarter Sunday night and will miss the final five games of the season.

Przybilla was trying to block a shot when his hand hit the rim hard. The 7-foot-1 starter was averaging 4.8 points and 8.4 rebounds a game. Since the All-Star break, he had been averaging 11.4 rebounds.

Both teams got off to a sluggish start. The Blazers made just five of 22 field goals (22.7 percent) in the first quarter. The Spurs were just 6-of-17 (35.5 percent), and held a 17-13 lead.

San Antonio went up 24-15 in the second quarter on Kurt Thomas’ turnaround jumper, but Outlaw and Jarrett Jack hit consecutive jumpers for the Blazers to narrow it to 24-19.

Michael Finley hit a 3-pointer for the Spurs before Roy scored for the first time in the game on a fast break. Roy would have nine points by the half.

San Antonio held a slim 39-34 lead at the break, then opened the second half with a 9-0 run to go up 45-34.

Roy helped the Blazers narrow it to 54-50 with a step-back jumper with 2:48 left in the third quarter. San Antonio didn’t let the Blazers get closer.

“There’s five games left and we’re going to do our best to finish strong,”

Notes

Webster was expected to be examined by the Blazers’ cardiologist early this week. … Greg Oden, the top draft pick in last year’s draft who is sitting out his first season after knee surgery, was back on the Blazers bench after missing the last game with a cold. Oden has been at most of Portland’s games this season, and gone on road trips. … The Blazers are 1-7 this season without Roy.