Game Thread 2026 NBA PLAYOFFS - RND 1 - GAME #3 - SPURS @ BLAZERS - APRIL 24, 2026 - FRIDAY - 7:30 PM - PRIME (5 Viewers)

[Everything Beagle]

Why should he after that game?

You get what you pay for

 

[MrDraftGuy]

- Not winning this game means Portland has no business winning the series.

- Live by the 3, die by the 3. Portland died in the mid-3rd quarter and early 4th quarter & cost itself a 15 point lead. Ideally, being able to set up some emergency plays is vital to fixing this issue. Portland doesn't seem to be able to do that.

- Outside of scrappy defense, Portland lacks an identity.

- As we saw in the regular season, Portland's play style is easily exploited by the Spurs even without Wemby. When you have four star caliber guards like the Spurs have, Portland cannot play like it did. If you just run in, dribble hand-off, chuck the ball, and miss your shots....you simply allow the Spurs guards to run the same playbook back against you. And they'll do it more effectively since I estimate four of them can score 17-22ppg (Fox, Castle, Vassel, Harper). Basically, they get all those extra possessions due to the Blazers fast paced but chaotic play. No amount of scrappy defense will stop that.

- Refs were atrocious and inconsistent. But Portland allowed the 15 point lead to get swung by around 30 points. No one to blame but yourself.

- In Games 2 & 3, I felt Jerami Grant's lack of court vision hindered the team in crucial moments. He stopped the ball way too much and allowed the Spurs to gain crucial points during pivotal moments when the starters were resting.

- Still expect 6 games.

- Deni still looks hurt and out of sync. Sharpe, as well.

- Portland still a young team. Expect a few more years of this. If Sharpe and Scoot can improve by 2029, Portland will make a jump and develop an identity. If not, one or both may need to be traded for a player that fits.

Unless you get a superstar under 30 years old back, I think it's a mistake to trade either right now. It seems the way the current NBA works, teams will depend on 3-5 guard rotations that can generate offense like the Spurs, Thunder, & Pistons do. Trading two young guards for one guy seems like a terrible idea once Dame and Jrue get too old in a few years.

 

[LayneStaley]

Fuck El Cheapo. I bet he blows all this up.

Serious question, why is LMA a fixture around Tom now? You think he’s gonna have a position in the Front office next season?

 

[PCmor7]

Got up 15 and everyone thought the game was over and they could just all do their own thing.

Started with Scoot thinking he was back on the Ignite, trying to dazzle everyone with his dribble and stepback 3, then committing an awful foul that looked like something out of his rookie year. Then Jerami's taking stupid scoop shots when he's caught behind the backboard and he has plenty of time to pass out of the problem rather than take a poor shot, but I swear he's played this series like he was expecting to use all his money on a yacht rental for the last week of April. Then Jrue of all people settles for some weird side-step fallaway 3 from the corner that had no chance of going in. Then Deni keeps forcing things.

Then Scoot misses a reverse layup when he should have drawn the contact and forced the refs (who were even worse than the Blazers tonight) to blow the whistle. However, he got the shot on the backboard and Clingan rebounded and missed the putback.

But the icing on the cake was Scoot breaking a tie game with an impressive driving layup, absolutely cooking Harper and giving the Blazers momentum ... only to show himself as the dumbest, most selfish, cockiest player in the arena by getting a T that gave the momentum right back and allowed the Spurs to turn a 15-point deficit into a 1-point lead by the end of the quarter.

Then Harper made Scoot his son in the 4Q.

I'm angry at the moment, so I probably won't feel this way after a good night's sleep, but I'd be fine jettisoning Scoot from the Blazers after tonight. His stats looked good, but he did some things when the game was in the balance that a good team player doesn't do. Aldo actually said it best -- Scoot hasn't earned the right to act that way. Doesn't matter whether he scored 31 last game or was having a great series. To me, he and Jerami Grant, who seems to be trying to put the "me" in "team" and is effectively checked out, by far did the most to cost the Blazers a game they should have won.

I can accept losing. I have a harder time accepting losing when its from dumbness and not physical issues. When it's dumbness and selfishness, I get upset.

Jettison Scoot into the sun. I've seen all I want to see of him and Grant. Awful judgment. Mentally lazy.

 

[wizenheimer]

If we had someone who could shoot we would have been up 20+ in first half. There was a time we were up 13-14 then missed like 4 open 3s in a row if my memory is correct.

in the first half Portland shot 48% on three's and 47% on FG's. Shooting wasn't the problem

 

[1 Eye Jack]

Man this forum needle moves so fast both directions. Scoot is amazing, Scoot sucks, this team has a chance, this team sucks. I don’t get to up or to down for one playoff game. Lots of ups and downs in playoff series

 

[Everything Beagle]

Fuck El Cheapo. I bet he blows all this up.

Serious question, why is LMA a fixture around Tom now? You think he’s gonna have a position in the Front office next season?

Cheap coach?

 

[PCmor7]

Fuck El Cheapo. I bet he blows all this up.

Serious question, why is LMA a fixture around Tom now? You think he’s gonna have a position in the Front office next season?

Wouldn't shock me.

That's my biggest fear with this guy. I liked when he bought the team because I heard how competitive he is and wants to win and what he did in the NHL, but the stuff he's doing or planning to do in Portland will make us long for the days when free agents even gave us a look.

Who will want to play here? He's already a joke.

He's giving me vibes of Stepien owning the Cavs or Fisher owning the A's in baseball.

 

[barfo]

I fear if true, Sharpe will absolutely explode on another team and we will regret it immensely. What I really worry about is that ironically due to Jody Allen's EXTREME INCOMPREHENSIBLE GREED, we somehow sold the team to a cheapskate despite DEEP POCKETED Phil Knight, an Oregon Native, making a completely reasonable offer on the team. What a travesty.

Mmm... the money goes to charity, not Jody personally. She had both contractual and ethical reasons to take the highest bid. If Phil wanted the team, he should have paid the going rate. As you say, he's DEEP POCKETED, so if he really wanted the team, but was too much of a cheapskate to pay for it, that's hardly Jody's fault.

barfo

 

[PCmor7]

They’re certainly playing like they know they’re gone.

They might have seen what Dundon's doing and want to be gone.

 

[MickZagger]

Got up 15 and everyone thought the game was over and they could just all do their own thing.

Started with Scoot thinking he was back on the Ignite, trying to dazzle everyone with his dribble and stepback 3, then committing an awful foul that looked like something out of his rookie year. Then Jerami's taking stupid scoop shots when he's caught behind the backboard and he has plenty of time to pass out of the problem rather than take a poor shot, but I swear he's played this series like he was expecting to use all his money on a yacht rental for the last week of April. Then Jrue of all people settles for some weird side-step fallaway 3 from the corner that had no chance of going in. Then Deni keeps forcing things.

Then Scoot misses a reverse layup when he should have drawn the contact and forced the refs (who were even worse than the Blazers tonight) to blow the whistle. However, he got the shot on the backboard and Clingan rebounded and missed the putback.

But the icing on the cake was Scoot breaking a tie game with an impressive driving layup, absolutely cooking Harper and giving the Blazers momentum ... only to show himself as the dumbest, most selfish, cockiest player in the arena by getting a T that gave the momentum right back and allowed the Spurs to turn a 15-point deficit into a 1-point lead by the end of the quarter.

Then Harper made Scoot his son in the 4Q.

I'm angry at the moment, so I probably won't feel this way after a good night's sleep, but I'd be fine jettisoning Scoot from the Blazers after tonight. His stats looked good, but he did some things when the game was in the balance that a good team player doesn't do. Aldo actually said it best -- Scoot hasn't earned the right to act that way. Doesn't matter whether he scored 31 last game or was having a great series. To me, he and Jerami Grant, who seems to be trying to put the "me" in "team" and is effectively checked out, by far did the most to cost the Blazers a game they should have won.

I can accept losing. I have a harder time accepting losing when its from dumbness and not physical issues. When it's dumbness and selfishness, I get upset.

Jettison Scoot into the sun. I've seen all I want to see of him and Grant. Awful judgment. Mentally lazy.

It was just kind of blasé from the beginning. No fire. Felt that way though out the whole game. Lots of weird distractions when the franchise and city should be focused on the playoffs

 

[MickZagger]

Fuck El Cheapo. I bet he blows all this up.

Serious question, why is LMA a fixture around Tom now? You think he’s gonna have a position in the Front office next season?

He knows Aldridge personally so what better way to not get boo’d out of the stadium then to sit next to Aldridge. Or I guess for Aldridge to sit next to the owner for that matter

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

This happens all the time. Blazers fans fall in love with young guys that they think have what it takes.

Yeah, Clingan had some big games, but he looks almost useless this series. The guy would have been a stud in the 80s and 90s. I wouldn't consider him untouchable this offseason if we can trade for someone that is better. Bam Adebayo comes to mind as a guy i'd love.

We don't nearly have the talent to compete. We have to make a move this offseason If Dame looks like he has another couple years left.

 

[MickZagger]

- Not winning this game means Portland has no business winning the series.

- Live by the 3, die by the 3. Portland died in the mid-3rd quarter and early 4th quarter & cost itself a 15 point lead. Ideally, being able to set up some emergency plays is vital to fixing this issue. Portland doesn't seem to be able to do that.

- Outside of scrappy defense, Portland lacks an identity.

- As we saw in the regular season, Portland's play style is easily exploited by the Spurs even without Wemby. When you have four star caliber guards like the Spurs have, Portland cannot play like it did. If you just run in, dribble hand-off, chuck the ball, and miss your shots....you simply allow the Spurs guards to run the same playbook back against you. And they'll do it more effectively since I estimate four of them can score 17-22ppg (Fox, Castle, Vassel, Harper). Basically, they get all those extra possessions due to the Blazers fast paced but chaotic play. No amount of scrappy defense will stop that.

- Refs were atrocious and inconsistent. But Portland allowed the 15 point lead to get swung by around 30 points. No one to blame but yourself.

- In Games 2 & 3, I felt Jerami Grant's lack of court vision hindered the team in crucial moments. He stopped the ball way too much and allowed the Spurs to gain crucial points during pivotal moments when the starters were resting.

- Still expect 6 games.

- Deni still looks hurt and out of sync. Sharpe, as well.

- Portland still a young team. Expect a few more years of this. If Sharpe and Scoot can improve by 2029, Portland will make a jump and develop an identity. If not, one or both may need to be traded for a player that fits.

Unless you get a superstar under 30 years old back, I think it's a mistake to trade either right now. It seems the way the current NBA works, teams will depend on 3-5 guard rotations that can generate offense like the Spurs, Thunder, & Pistons do. Trading two young guards for one guy seems like a terrible idea once Dame and Jrue get too old in a few years.

I’m a fan of Splitter. But, you gotta play Sharpe over him . I’m a bit perplexed about the whole sharpe thing really. He’s a rhythm guy and was legit our best option before January. Is he on a minutes restriction? I’m so confused. He’s bounds better than Grant.

 

[MickZagger]

This happens all the time. Blazers fans fall in love with young guys that they think have what it takes.

Yeah, Clingan had some big games, but he looks almost useless this series. The guy would have been a stud in the 80s and 90s. I wouldn't consider him untouchable this offseason if we can trade for someone that is better. Bam Adebayo comes to mind as a guy i'd love.

We don't nearly have the talent to compete. We have to make a move this offseason If Dame looks like he has another couple years left.

We have plenty of talent. We don’t have a game changing defensive player or multiple shooters. We don’t really have any real shooters. The spurs came back and won this game by basically saying fuck it we’ll out shoot you

 

[wizenheimer]

Mmm... the money goes to charity, not Jody personally. She had both contractual and ethical reasons to take the highest bid. If Phil wanted the team, he should have paid the going rate.

barfo

the narrative about Phil Knight is malarkey

Phil made an offer north of 2B dollars in 2022 when the Blazers were valued at 2.1B. Jody and the Vulcans reportedly dismissed it immediately and made it clear they would not deal with Knight. There was some bad feeling between Vulcans and Knight. Rumor is it was Bert Kolde being a dick about something and torpedoing PK. Knight and the guy he was partnering with reportedly tried to talk to Seattle several times over the 4-5 months after there initial offer and the Vulcans essentially refused to talk with them.

this all happened well before the new media deals were signed. By that time Knight had given up even dealing with the Seattle assholes

 

[MickZagger]

in the first half Portland shot 48% on three's and 47% on FG's. Shooting wasn't the problem

As Candace Parker liked to point out we were a 28% 3 point shooting team on the season

 

[Portland2014]

Scoot acted like Westbrook and Harper made him look bad like Lillard did with Westbrook.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

We have plenty of talent. We don’t have a game changing defensive player or multiple shooters. We don’t really have any real shooters. The spurs came back and won this game by basically saying fuck it we’ll out shoot you

We aren't close to being contenders. Deni is good. Camara has a role. Scoot has been good this series. We need to consolidate for a star. Depth is overrated.

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

the narrative about Phil Knight is malarkey

Phil made an offer north of 2B dollars in 2022 when the Blazers were valued at 2.1B. Jody and the Vulcans reportedly dismissed it immediately and made it clear they would not deal with Knight. There was some bad feeling between Vulcans and Knight. Rumor is it was Bert Kolde being a dick about something and torpedoing PK. Knight and the guy he was partnering with reportedly tried to talk to Seattle several times over the 4-5 months after there initial offer and the Vulcans essentially refused to talk with them.

this all happened well before the new media deals were signed. By that time Knight had given up even dealing with the Seattle assholes

And you don't think Jody knew about the likelihood the team would increase in value with the new media deal?

I think some good advice is for anyone to find a spouse that loves them the way you love Phil Knight

 

[Everything Beagle]

We aren't close to being contenders. Deni is good. Camara has a role. Scoot has been good this series. We need to consolidate for a star. Depth is overrated.

We will never NEVER EVER be contenders dude. Fucking get over it.

 

[barfo]

the narrative about Phil Knight is malarkey

Phil made an offer north of 2B dollars in 2022 when the Blazers were valued at 2.1B. Jody and the Vulcans reportedly dismissed it immediately and made it clear they would not deal with Knight. There was some bad feeling between Vulcans and Knight. Rumor is it was Bert Kolde being a dick about something and torpedoing PK. Knight and the guy he was partnering with reportedly tried to talk to Seattle several times over the 4-5 months after there initial offer and the Vulcans essentially refused to talk with them.

this all happened well before the new media deals were signed. By that time Knight had given up even dealing with the Seattle assholes

They dismissed it by saying the Blazers weren't for sale at the time. Which, in hindsight, appears to have been true.

And, in hindsight, the Seattle assholes were pretty smart/lucky to turn down Phil's offer, since the team sold for twice that.

barfo

 

[HailBlazers]

Man this forum needle moves so fast both directions. Scoot is amazing, Scoot sucks, this team has a chance, this team sucks. I don’t get to up or to down for one playoff game. Lots of ups and downs in playoff series

I really enjoyed the game. Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper are a thrill to watch

 

[JfizzleBlazer]

We will never NEVER EVER be contenders dude. Fucking get over it.

K. Except we have been contenders before so.....

 

[inconceivable]

We're going back to Texas even. I think Wemby sits Sunday's game too and the Blazers will annihilate the Spurs. We will blow them out. Sharpe finally shows up and drop 25 and Clingan finaly has his 15/15/5 game. Go Blazers!

 

[Cugel]

Clingan has been such a let down this series. Just a non entity. Same for Thybulle, Murray, Grant, Tou, and Shae.