Spurs Fend Off Injury-Ridden Blazers to Win First-Ever NBA Game in Austin

In front of a packed house at the Moody Center for the first-ever NBA game in Austin, the San Antonio Spurs had four players reach the 20-point mark and pulled out a tight win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.

© Scott Wachter, USA TODAY

AUSTIN, Texas -- In a game lacking star power between two teams already eliminated from postseason contention, Thursday's meeting with the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers held plenty of significance.

It marked the first-ever NBA regular-season game to be played in Austin, Texas, as the Spurs hosted the Blazers at the Moody Center, home of the Texas Longhorns.

And the Spurs gave the Lone Star State fans a show, fending off the Blazers in the final minutes for a tight 129-127 win.

The Spurs (21-59) got four 20-point efforts, led by a game-high 25 points from forward Keita Bates-Diop. Keldon Johnson added 24 points and five rebounds, while forward Zach Collins (21 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks) and guard Tre Jones (18 points, 10 assists) put together huge contributions. 

Two-way forward Julian Champagnie continued his hot play, posting 24 points on 5 of 9 shooting from deep off the bench.

Former Spurs forward Drew Eubanks showed out against his old team, tallying 23 points and nine rebounds. Wing Kevin Knox had an impressive performance off the bench, posting 24 points on 9 of 15 shooting.

Portland (33-47) had nine players out due to injury, headlined by star Damian Lillard, standout guard Anfernee Simons, forward Jerami Grant and center Jusuf Nurkic.

Despite all the absences, the Blazers couldn't miss and got out to a scorching 14 of 16 shooting start from the field as Eubanks led the way with nine points early.

But the Spurs put together a 9-0 run near the end of the first quarter and took a 32-29 lead.

The Spurs headed to the locker room with a 69-61 lead at halftime, but the Blazers came out firing in the third quarter. Knox scored seven points in the final 1:14 of the third quarter to give Portland a 100-98 lead as the fourth quarter began.

The Blazers led for nearly the entire fourth quarter and seemed on their way to an impressive win in Austin considering how many players they had out.

But back-to-back triples from Bates-Diop and a 3 from Jones suddenly gave the Spurs their first lead of the quarter and a 123-119 edge with 3:06 to play.

From there, they never looked back, holding off Portland in the final minutes for the win.

The Spurs will stay in Austin before taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves at Moody Center on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT. 

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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