The Blazers won the swish3 contest shooting 11 of 28 versus the Spurs 7 of 21, but lost the game due to weak and inconsistent defense, with biased referees being a major factor. This game was among the most poorly called games that I remember as noted by many comments on this forum. But the game also was a missed opportunity to learn from the dramatic difference between the 1st and 2nd half of the Rockets game April 5 in which substitutions showed that the Blazers could enhance Blazer offense and defense.
The best swish3 shooting in the Spurs game tonight was from Dame (6 of 12), Evan (1 of 2), Meyers (2 of 2) and Wade (1 of 1). Chief was 1 of 4 and four Blazers missed all swish3s, including CJ 3, Zach 2, Shabazz 1, and Pat 1. The swish3 strategy of feeding the hot hand to continue shooting was not continued, missing the chance to score the 61 points in the 2nd half needed to win the game. Meyers contributed an excellent game both on offense and defense, and could have contributed energy and scoring to the 4th quarter for a win. Wade could also have played more minutes for end of game defense and another swish3.
After what the Blazers learned from the Rockets game, the strategy for staying with the high % shooters and bringing fresh energy to the defensive game in the 2nd half has been demonstrated. For the last 2 season games and the playoffs, I imagine that the Blazers can use this strategy to win.
Considering the 10 point swing (5 foul calls against and 5+ nocalls for) that would have evened the game, the Blazers could have won this game too. The defense must be consistent and the fouls called evenly................