(Reuters) – The San Antonio Spurs continued their return to top form with a 116-92 rout of the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday in Game One of their Western Conference semi-final.
Tony Parker blazed the trail with 33 points and nine assists to give San Antonio the 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. It was the second consecutive blowout win for the number one seed Spurs, who blasted Dallas by 23 points on Sunday in the deciding seventh game of their surprisingly tough first-round series.
The Trail Blazers entered the night riding high, having eliminated Houston 4-2 in their opening matchup to reach the second round for the first time in 14 years.
But the home Spurs pounded Portland in the first half to take a 65-39 lead into the halftime and the Blazers could not recover.
Game Two is on Thursday in San Antonio.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)