Both the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers came into the season with playoff aspirations, but both have played far short of expectations. In a way, this game was a microcosm of how the season has gone for both teams. There were moments of fantastic play riddled with inconsistency.
Both teams have had issues holding onto leads, especially late in games. The Spurs themselves were just coming off a loss against the Orlando Magic in which they blew a fourth quarter lead. There was also the game on October 28 against the Blazers where the Spurs dodged some last second Damian Lillard three point bullets to avoid blowing a 19 point lead in the final five minutes of the game.