The Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs met on Sunday afternoon in a game that would help determine the seedings in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery. The Blazers entered the game with 44 losses, the 9th-worst record in the NBA. The Spurs had 45 losses for the 8th-worst record. The tenor of the game reflected exactly that. We haven’t seen tank versus tank warfare like this since Atari released Battlezone to arcades back in 1980. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, never have so few f**ks been given by so many.

Granted, the game had a certain energy. Young players ran up and down the floor, looking for offense, passing when they were able. But the operative word, in most cases, was “young”. Of the 30 potential roster participants from both teams, approximately 18 were injured and/or out headed into the contest. That gave the game a Summer League vibe from the jump.

The ensuing play did little to dispel the impression. Defense against penetration had the same air as Midwesterners arriving at a four-way stop. “You go. No, please, you go!” Close-outs on three-pointers resembled your local Rose Festival court waving at the public from atop their parade floats. The Blazers mounted a huge, 22-5 run at the end of the first period behind a couple of their experienced players but they gave a bunch of it back in the second by turning over the ball like it was made of shock buzzers and cacti. The second half resembled a middle-school talent show: lots of effort, barely-watchable results.

In the end, the Blazers prevailed 120-109. Whether that’s good or bad depends on your perspective. A win’s a win. I guess it was nice for the players and it looks better for Chauncey Billups. But the lottery and those precious, precious ping-pong balls… a loss might have been better in the long run?

Oh well. No use crying over spilt Darigold. Here are some of the factors that contributed to the game.

The Spurs defended the rim like Cracker Barrel defends against senior citizens. “Would you like biscuits with that layup?” The Blazers scored 52 in the paint, that in a freewheeling game with a lot of unnecessary passing and shooting. When Portland went to the hole, they found no resistance.

Turnovers plagued both teams, to absolutely nobody’s surprise. The Blazers committed 15, the Spurs 18. That led to plenty of run-outs, none of which were particularly well-defended. Portland posted 20 fast break points. San Antonio added 18. That turned a semi-inept game into a reasonably-high-scoring one.

If it was tank time, Dalano Banton didn’t get the memo. He was aggressive on offense, scoring 20 on 7-16 shooting with 6 assists. He keyed the Blazers early. Shaedon Sharpe had 21 with 10 rebounds and 6 assists, but he shot only 5-17 and had 6 turnovers. Kris Murray (7-11, 18 points, 5 rebounds) and Jabari Walker (4-5, 10 points) also went hard off the bench. Perhaps best of all for Blazers fans, Toumani Camara got to show off his isolation offense a bit. He shot 8-16 overall, 4-11 from distance for 23 points with 10 rebounds.

Donovan Clingan appeared to have fun as his teammates became more permissive on defense. He teed up with 3 blocks and 2 steals in 27 minutes. He’s got the timing down on those caps. We’re used to it now, but we shouldn’t overlook that a rookie is doing it. Usually it takes a while to adjust to NBA speed. In this way, at least, Clingan is ahead of the curve.

Chris Paul isn’t having the greatest season, but even at Methuselah age, you can tell the difference between him and lesser NBA players. When you look at Portland’s collection of not-quite point guards and you look at CP3, you just wish the Blazers could get some of that mentoring and/or experience. Paul had 9 assists in 29 minutes in this one.

A contingent of fans began squeaking their kazoos at the end of Portland’s last game versus the Chicago Bulls as Head Coach Chauncey Billups pulled Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe with the Blazers down 5, three minutes remaining in the game. Even though Portland closed that lead further and acquitted themselves decently in the loss. the tank was on, or so the narrative went.

Portland had a real chance to lose this game in the closing minutes as well, as San Antonio closed the lead to a single possession with 3:20 remaining. Billups kept in his starters and experienced players. They defended decently, forced turnovers, and converted for points, sealing away the game. If the Blazers were intentionally losing that Bulls game—and there’s no hard evidence they were—the tide turned again today.

In any case, Portland has but three games left on the schedule. They face the Jazz on Wednesday night at 6:00 PM, Pacific, then the Lakers and Warriors to close the year.