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Trail Blazers vs. Spurs: A Tale of the Tape

Published April 16, 1984

Forward Calvin Natt led the Blazers in scoring this season at 17.5 ppg, but he enters the playoffs with a sore right shoulder. How, if at all, will the injury affect his physical driving ability?

By Shams Schmitz | The Oregonian

The Portland Trail Blazers are a .500 basketball team. They traded away one of their best players midseason, and they enter the postseason have lost eight of their last 10 games. The end-of-season slide cost them a potential shot at the No. 4 seed and home court advantage in their first-round series.

All that’s to say: it’s no surprise prognosticators are expecting Portland to have a swift and unceremonious exit from the postseason. But Blazers players and members of the organization don’t share that same sentiment — in fact, during the open locker room portion of media availability this week, there was even a quiet confidence emanating from within Memorial Coliseum.

While every Western Conference organization, if you gave them truth serum, would admit that the Los Angeles Lakers are a cut above any other team in the conference, there is a path to the Western Conference finals for any of the teams not on the Lakers’ side of the bracket (the Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, the Spurs, and the Blazers).

Utah and San Antonio were unspectacular during the second half of the season despite making splashy trades, and the Spurs in particular could be vulnerable to a team that plays hard and aggressively, as they feature players who log major minutes who are 31, 29, 30 and 34 years old. This unit does offer good balance on both sides of the ball, however, as the Spurs ranked No. 6 in the league in offense and No. 7 in defense during the regular season.

Meanwhile, the Blazers will rely on their experienced, but not aging, core and their defense to try to contain George Gervin, Artis Gilmore, and Co. Portland doesn’t have any contributing players on their roster over 30, but several of them, including Mychal Thompson (29), Kenny Carr (28), and Calvin Natt (27) offer the big-game experience to supplement the youth in the backcourt with Fat Lever (23) and Clyde Drexler (21). Natt enters this series battling a sore shoulder that is expected to heal in a week or two, but will the Blazers hang around the playoffs long enough to see him play at 100%?

Portland has relied on their defense (ranked No. 4) to help keep afloat a middling offense (No. 12), and they’ll have to keep the Spurs’ proficient scoring wings in check (Gervin, 26.9 ppg) and Thompson (15.1 ppg) in order to extend the series as long as possible. Portland players and coaches feel Lever, Drexler, and Natt each bring something unique to defending on the perimeter, and getting stops will be key to unlocking a transition game the Blazers are hoping to showcase this postseason.

Lineups at a Glance: