ZACH COLLINS

Keldon Johnson scored 28 points and the San Antonio Spurs defeated the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers 113-92 on Sunday night to strengthen their bid for a play-in berth.

Devin Vassell had 22 points, Keldon Johnson added 21 points and the San Antonio Spurs maintained their hold on 10th place in the Western Conference by defeating the Portland Trail Blazers 130-111 on Friday night.

Dejounte Murray had 15 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds, Keldon Johnson punctuated his 21-point night with a break-away dunk in the final seconds and the San Antonio Spurs bolstered their postseason hopes with a 107-103 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Karl-Anthony Towns had a team-record 60 points, the most scored in the NBA this season, and the Minnesota Timberwolves outlasted the San Antonio Spurs 149-139.

Tyrese Haliburton had 19 points and 10 assists and the Indiana Pacers snapped a three-game skid, beating the San Antonio Spurs 119-108 on Saturday night.

Dejounte Murray tied his career highs with 32 points and 15 assists to go with 10 rebounds for his 11th triple double this season, Keldon Johnson scored 26 points and the San Antonio Spurs cruised to a 136-121 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Keldon Johnson had 28 points and the San Antonio Spurs punctuated Zach Collins’ return from a nearly two-year absence with a 131-106 victory over the Houston Rockets on Friday night.

Joel Embiid had 38 points and 12 rebounds and the Philadelphia 76ers held off a late rally to beat the San Antonio Spurs 115-109.

Devin Booker had a season-high 48 points and the Phoenix Suns dominated the fourth quarter to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 121-107 for their fourth straight victory.

Joel Embiid had 31 points and 12 rebounds and the Philadelphia 76ers extended their winning streak to six games with a 119-100 win over the short-handed San Antonio Spurs.

Gregg Popovich became the first to coach 2,000 NBA games with the same team, and Dejounte Murray scored 22 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs past the Boston Celtics 99-97.

A new public Spurs-themed basketball court is now open for residents and children near Woodlawn Lake.

Domantas Sabonis scored 24 points and Myles Turner added 19 to lead the Indiana Pacers past struggling San Antonio 131-118.

In less than a month, we have seen a complete transformation of the Spurs. Let’s break down some of the pros and cons of this wild offseason and coach Gregg Popovich eviscerating the haters! Welcome to this week’s KSAT.com Spurs newsletter.

It’s the end of an era as Patty Mills, the longest tenured Spurs player, is headed to Brooklyn. Mills is reportedly set to sign a 2-year deal with the Nets worth $12 million, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Mills is leaving San Antonio after 10 seasons with the franchise. Mills was the last remaining player on the Spurs 2014 championship team and the squad that made back-to-back NBA Finals in the mid-2010s.

For the first time in years, the San Antonio Spurs are flush with cash as NBA free agency officially begins Monday afternoon.

Norman Powell matched his career playoff high with 29 points and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets 115-95 on Saturday in Game 4 to even the first-round series.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, right, fouls Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroeder (17) during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)LOS ANGELES – Damian Lillard scored 21 of his 31 points in the second half, and CJ McCollum had 20 points and 11 assists in the Portland Trail Blazers' 115-107 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. Gary Trent Jr. matched his career high with seven 3-pointers while scoring 28 points in the Blazers' second straight win over the Lakers at Staples Center. “I would assume any young player who was coming off the kind of season he had last season would expect to be in the rotation for more than six minutes,” Lillard said. ... Los Angeles got just 23 bench points, led by Montrezl Harrell's nine.

We got better throughout the course of the series, James said. The Lakers hadn't won a playoff series since 2012. James has never lost a first-round playoff series, going 14-0. CJ McCollum had 36 points for the surprisingly scrappy Trail Blazers, who played without injured All-Star guard Damian Lillard. His personality and energy were unmatched, and his contributions on the court were unmistakable, helping the Trail Blazers into the playoffs each of his eight seasons with the team, the Blazers said in a statement.

The Trail Blazers won the opener but have appeared gassed in the past two games as the grind of the bubble and injuries appear to have taken a toll. It was considered Kobe Day because Monday was 8/24, the two numbers Kobe Bryant wore during his 20-year career. We want to have this be a day to celebrate his life and carry that type of emotion into the game, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said before the game. It was the most points in a half for Los Angeles in a playoff game since a game against Denver in 1987. Trail Blazers: It was the first time this season that the Blazers allowed an opponent 80 first-half points.

James' layup gave Los Angeles the lead, and Kuzma added a pair of free throws and another layup to extend it to 84-78. After Danny Green's layup tied it again for Los Angeles, Lillard nailed a 3-pointer. The Blazers were able to stay in front throughout the third quarter, but the Lakers kept it close. The game was delayed for a time in the first half when the Lakers' rim got tilted and had to be adjusted. TIP INSTrail Blazers: Lillard had 48 points in Portland's 127-119 victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles on Jan. 31.

Lillard finished with 29 points and nine assists as the Trail Blazers boosted their hopes for a seventh consecutive playoff appearance. Carmelo Anthony added 21 points as Portland moved within 2 1/2 games of the Grizzlies for the No. Everybody knew how important that game was," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 33 points and rookie Ja Morant added 22 points and 11 assists for Memphis. It was a weird game," McCollum said.

FILE - In this March 3, 2020, file photo, Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis celebrates after scoring during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers, in Los Angeles. Jusuf Nurkic is back and healthy. So are Zach Collins, Meyers Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis and plenty of others. If the four-month NBA shutdown had a silver lining, its that a lot of ailing players got well. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)

Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard marches alongside protesters towards downtown Portland on the Morrison Bridge, on June 4, 2020. Im going to have my PS3, my PS4. Im going to have my studio equipment, my mike, my laptop. Im going to have all my books. Im going to be in the room, chillin'.

If the four-month NBA shutdown had a silver lining, its that a lot of ailing players got well. Thats when he realized a bright side of the NBAs coronavirus shutdown. And its hard to say good things came from it.Fact is, though, some good things have emerged on the injury fronts. After 60 or 65 games, most players were likely dealing with some sort of aches-and-pains issue anyway. I feel 100% healthy.

8 seed in the Western Conference Memphis, Portland, New Orleans, Sacramento, San Antonio and Phoenix. The other games: Sacramento vs. San Antonio, Memphis vs. San Antonio and Portland vs. Memphis. The Grizzlies start with a 3 1/2-game lead over Portland, New Orleans and Sacramento, along with a four-game edge on San Antonio. The Bucks were 22-0 against those eight teams one of three NBA teams to go unbeaten against that group. NBA teams have combined for 23,560 3-pointers made so far this season, which is already the fourth-most of any season in league history.