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Since they make an app for everything these days, I figured it’d be wise to download myself a word of the day app. I don’t read as much as I should, so I thought it’d help keep me sounding smart if I learned some big words. They say to help remember the word of the day you should try to use it in a sentence, so here goes; For the last four games the Trail Blazers’ performance has been torpid, at best. The definition of torpid is “mentally or physically inactive; lethargic.” My word of the day app serendipitously struck gold in describing the Blazers yesterday. They've worn it on they’re faces since the beginning of December. They’re not in the game. The look trampled and frustrated.

I referenced Rocky IV last season when describing how the Blazers needed to train and toughen up, but this year I truly believe they need to start training like boxers. They need brutal stamina and endurance training. They need lessons in intimidation and getting into their opponents head. Another thing that pugilists also do preceding a big fight, is they abstain from sexual activity for months before they step into the ring. I feel like the Blazers need to not get laid for a while. The need to be quick witted, focused, and undistracted. I don’t think they can do that unless they get their minds off of the fairer sex. I’d say until they win at least the next 10 games, no more action. It probably wouldn’t hurt Terry Stouts to start drinking a fifth of scotch a day too. He needs to get a little more leathery if his gonna pit his strategies against shifty eyed men made of wood like Gregg Popovich.

When your going up against a team like the San Antonio Spurs, it is paramount that your brain and body are firing on all cylinders. Last night the Blazers were coming out after playing a game where they played the first half asleep on their feet. Coach Stotts even called them out in his press conference after the game on Wednesday saying “We didn't play hard enough in the first half to win a game. We didn’t play with enough passion, enough heart.” Last night they needed to prove they were professional basketball players and play the game.

When the buzzer sounded, the Blazers played much harder than they did the last couple games, but their efforts were outmatched by the better team.

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From the start the Blazers looked calm and aware. They gave the Spurs no good looks on defense, pulled rebounds confidently, and executed well on offense. Stotts was experimenting with his line-up as well. Pat Connaughton made it into the game within the first six minutes.

Poor, hatefully lamented Lamarcus Aldridge got booed every time he touched the ball and it looked like it got to him a little. The only points he could muster in the first quarter were from free throws.

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Popovich was particularly salty early in the game. He got himself a technical foul with three minutes left in the opening quarter. They showed him on the Jumbo-tron mouthing off to the officials. His expression frightened the shit out of me. That man is the scariest person in the entire NBA, and that’s why he’s one of the greats.

Miraculously the teams played the first half pretty close to the chest. The lead fluctuated between them a bit. Of course the Spurs got their lead up to double digits a couple times, but the Blazers never let them run away with it too fast. The Spurs had a 12 point lead at the half, but they had to dig to get it.

The Blazers came out swinging in the second half. It looked like they were going to keep the same nose to the grindstone vibe they had in the first half. They went shot for shot and slowly edged the Spurs lead down for most of the third, but then Aldridge started becoming a factor. He started pulling his patented post up, spin to the hoop, or spin and fade moves. He brought his point total up to 16 before sitting with a few minutes left in the third.

With the Spurs up 15 going into the final quarter, the Blazers were way past trading buckets. They needed big stops and big shots. What they didn’t need was Dame hitting the floor wincing and rolling on the court after he rolled his ankle on an offensive play. He hobbled to the bench and Stotts called a time out. Thankfully, after the timeout expired he came back out on the court, continued playing, and half the crowd lost a couple years off their lives.

At the two minute mark, Stotts waved his white flag, tipped over the bench, and Jake Layman, Pat Connaughton, and Tim Quarterman filed into the game. The formula continues to elude us, and the streamers continue to stale in the rafters.

In the locker room post game, Dame limped out of the showers. Turns out his ankle was hurting a lot more then he let on. Despite how he walked, he tried to remain positive.

“I don’t know how well y’all know me, but I don’t plan on sitting out for more than a couple days. I’ll do as much as I can. I rolled it good. I know that.”

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Dame also had a few words to say about the Blazers current slump.

“When you have adversity you got to stand up to it. When you have hard times you gotta be honest and say, “We’re struggling right now.” We’re working hard to figure it out. Once we do get through it, times are better, and we win games we’ll look back at this and people will understand why we were able to stick with it. Why we remain positive. You gotta stand up to times like this so when you have success and things are going well, people will respect you more because [they’ll] look back at right now and remember how we responded.”