San Antonio wanted to wrap up the top seed in the West so they held nothing back Monday — they came into Portland and played all the big names, they came in with a real focus on the job.
The blew the doors of the Trail Blazers. The Spurs led by 13 after one quarter and it got a whole lot worse from there for Portland fans, until it mercifully ended 124-89. It was new vintage dominant Spurs this season, with an impressive offense in the lead role.
With the win the Spurs are the top seed in the West. They are tied with Chicago for the best record overall in the NBA, but the Bulls have the tiebreaker. Earlier this season it looked like the Thunder would run away with the top seed in the West but they have stumbled and been inconsistent for more than a month and that opened the door for a Spurs team that does not let opportunity pass it by. Oklahoma City will be the two seed in the West.
With this done, you can bet Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are done playing until the playoffs start this weekend.
What the Spurs do not know yet is who they face in the first round — Utah or Phoenix. Or maybe, but not likely, Denver. The game between the Jazz and the Suns Tuesday night in Utah will tell us a lot. Whichever of them it is, they will get steamrolled by a Spurs team whose offense is nearly an unstoppable machine right now.
