Trail Blazers 103, Spurs 92

PORTLAND, Ore. — Guard Damian Lillard scored 25 points, and the Portland Trail Blazers stayed alive by blowing the game open in the second half of a 103-92 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night at the Moda Center.

Forward LaMarcus Aldridge scored 19 points and forward Nicolas Batum contributed 14 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists for the Trail Blazers, who trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series.

The Spurs return home Wednesday for Game 5, their second chance to advance to the conference finals.

Lillard shot 11-for-21 from the field and also had four rebounds and five assists.

Portland outscored San Antonio 42-26 in the first 15 minutes of the second half to win for the first time in the series.

Guard Tony Parker led the Spurs with 14 points. Forward Tim Duncan contributed 12 points and nine rebounds, and forward Boris Diaw added 12 points.

For the first time in the series, the Blazers got major contributions off their bench. Guard Will Barton finished with 17 points and six rebounds, and forward Thomas Robinson had nine points and five boards.

The Spurs shot 44.3 percent from the field but made only three of 18 attempts from 3-point range.

The Blazer hit 43.9 percent of their field-goal attempts, including seven of 21 3-point tries.

Aldridge scored 11 first-half points and Lillard had 10 as the Blazers took a 50-48 lead into halftime. Parker had 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting to lead the Spurs.

Portland controlled play in the third quarter, outscoring San Antonio 35-20 to jack a two-point lead to 17. Batum got the Blazers going in the third quarter, his seven straight points — a four-point play, then a 3-point shot — giving them a 72-61 advantage. The Blazers extended the margin to 85-68 entering the final period.

It was 92-74 with nine minutes remaining. The Spurs made a late run but were unable to get the margin into single figures the rest of the way.

Portland led through most of the first quarter, taking a 29-24 advantage into the second. The Blazers shot 60 percent (12-for-20) from the field in the quarter, the Spurs only 38.5 percent (10-for-26).

San Antonio gradually cut into the deficit, tying it at 36-36 midway through the second quarter. Portland maintained a slight edge the rest of the quarter.

NOTES: Portland’s 6-foot-9 F Nicolas Batum opened Monday’s game defending San Antonio’s 6-2 G Tony Parker. Batum guarded his French countryman for much of the second half of Saturday’s Game 3. Parker averaged 26.0 points and 8.3 assists in the series through the first three games. The Trail Blazers were without reserve G Mo Williams (groin) for the second straight game. … Blazers G Damian Lillard, who made 218 3-pointers and shot .394 from 3-point range during the regular season, is 3-for-19 from beyond the arc in the series. He shot 2-for-6 from long range Monday. … The Spurs have gone 10 players deep in the series, getting particularly strong efforts from reserves G Marco Belinelli, G Patty Mills and F Boris Diaw. “It allowed us to rest our starters during the (regular) season, keep them with low minutes,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said, “so it seems logical to continue to try to play that way.”