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 Tony Parker blazed the trail with 33 points and nine assists to
give San Antonio the 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
It was the second consecutive blowout win for the number one seed
Spurs, who blasted Dallas by 23 points on Sunday in the deciding
seventh game of their surprisingly tough first-round series.
Parker set the tone against Portland with his aggressive play,
insisting he was not motivated by his premier point guard matchup
against young Blazer Damian Lillard who had 17 points.
"Lillard is a top guard in the NBA. I just try to be (San Antonio
coach Gregg Popovich's) favorite point guard," Parker told
reporters.
"I’m always going to try to do my job and be aggressive."
The Trail Blazers entered the night riding high, having eliminated
Houston 4-2 in their opening matchup to reach the second round for
the first time in 14 years.
But the home Spurs pounded Portland in the first half to take a
65-39 lead into the halftime and the Blazers could not recover.
LaMarcus Aldridge sustained his great play during the post-season
with 32 points and 14 rebounds, but it was far from enough for the
Blazers.
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"Most of our guys haven't been (this far into the playoffs) so this
lets us know how it's going to be," Aldridge said. "It’s a learning
process, the intensity that championship teams play with."
San Antonio reserve Marco Belinelli had 19 points and Tim Duncan
added 12 and 11 rebounds in a complete team effort.
Game Two is on Thursday in San Antonio.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; editing by Amlan
Chakraborty)
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