The Portland Trail Blazers were playing for pride Monday night.
It's amazing how powerful of a weapon that can be.
More than any strategic adjustments made by Blazers coach Terry Stotts, it was obligation that willed Portland to a win-or-go-fishing 103-92 Game 4 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
"It was about wanting it more," Blazers All-Star point guard Damian Lillard said, via Kerry Eggers of NBA.com. "The Spurs are a championship team, but we didn't want to be that team to get swept, or the team that facing uphill battle that gave up. We weren't ready to go home."
A few tactical ploys utilized by Stotts paid major dividends.
First, he stuck 6'8" Nicolas Batum on the 6'2" Tony Parker right from the opening tip. Parker had been dicing up the Blazers defense to the tune of 26.0 points and 8.3 assists a night over the first three games of the series. He managed just 14 points and a single assist in 27 minutes of action.
Stotts also handed Will Barton a surprisingly heavy workload. The 23-year-old's playoff experience to this point had largely been confined to garbage-time appearan ...
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Article written by Zach Buckley
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