Vonleh's Game-Winner, Napier's Career-High Pushes Portland Past Spurs

PORTLAND -- The Portland Trail Blazers, now locked into the eighth-seed and a first round matchup with the Golden State Warriors once the Western Conference playoffs start this weekend, didn’t have anything tangible to play for Monday night in their penultimate game of the regular season versus the Spurs. Given that, Trail Blazers head coach opted to turn the game over to his bench reserves in order to give the likes of Damian Lillard (right foot strain), CJ McCollum (right hand strain) and Allen Crabbe (left foot soreness) rest and time to heal nagging injuries.But what the Trail Blazers lacked in numbers Monday night against a Spurs team playing their regular rotation they made up for with effort that extended though all 48 minutes, literally, as Noah Vonleh scooped up a loose ball and put up a game-winning layup as time expired to give the Trail Blazers a 99-98 victory in front of a sold out crowd at the Moda Center.