Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs looked a lot like Game 7 of the Western Conference quarterfinals between the Spurs and Dallas Mavericks.
Both were Spurs routs.
The Spurs won Game 1 by 24 points. They’ve won eight straight Game 1s played on their home floor and seven straight playoff games against the Trail Blazers. They’ve also won 20 of their past 24 home playoff games.
Spurs had the jump
The difference in the game was how each team fared on its jump shots.
The Spurs made 24-of-47, the first time in the playoffs that they shot better than 50 percent on their jumpers. The Trail Blazers made only 12-of-40.
San Antonio also had a decisive edge in bench points, outscoring the Trail Blazers in that regard 50-18. The Spurs led the NBA with 45.1 bench points per game during the regular season.
Marco Belinelli shot 6-for-8 for 15 points on jump shots. He had 13 total points on 5-for-16 shooting in the previous series.
Parker delivers again
Tony Parker had 33 points (one more point than he had in Game 7 against the Mavericks) and nine assists to pace the Spurs. The nine assists led to 21 Spurs points.
This marked the second time in Parker’s career that he scored 30 or more points in consecutive playoff games. The other instance was in 2008.
