Blazers’ Micah Nori: ‘We gave in a little bit’ in loss to Spurs

The Blazers had enough trouble dealing with Victor Wembanyama. Letting frustration become part of the problem didn’t help.

That was coach Micah Nori’s assessment after Saturday’s 125-103 home loss to the Spurs, a game that was considerably less competitive than the final score suggests.

“I just thought that was the first time we just got a little bit frustrated and gave in a little bit,” Nori said, via Elias Esquivel of Blazers On SI.

The second quarter did plenty of damage. The Spurs scored 10 straight points entirely at the foul line during a stretch in which the Blazers committed five fouls in 44 seconds.

Fans weren’t happy with the officiating. Nori wasn’t happy with how his team responded.

Then came a 45-point Spurs third quarter, and that was pretty much that. The Blazers entered the fourth down 35.

Wembanyama finished with 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting, leading six Spurs in double figures. Deni Avdija’s 15 points led the Blazers.

Portland’s shooting improved after a rough opening quarter. Its ability to get stops and finish defensive possessions didn’t improve nearly enough.

“Wemby’s big (and when the Spurs) crash, you got to hit him early,” Nori said. “You got to make sure you beat (him) outside the restricted area.”

The Blazers couldn’t consistently do it. Against a team with that much size and scoring, a little frustration quickly became a very large deficit.