Portland Trail Blazers and San Antonio Spurs pull off historic Sunday upsets

Doug McDermott (YouTube)

Upsets happen in professional sports regularly. However, what we saw on Sunday was extremely noteworthy. The Portland Trail Blazers were a 19.5 point underdog to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and won 107-105. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs were a 16 point underdog to the Sacramento Kings, and won 142-134 in overtime.

According to ESPN, this was the 91st time since 1990-91 that there were two 15-point underdogs on the same day in National Basketball Association action. It was the first time of those 91 days, that the two underdogs won.

In Portland’s win over Minnesota, Canadian Shaedon Sharpe of London, Ontario led the Trail Blazers in scoring with 27 points. Sharpe has really heated up in the last five games offensively, as he has 25 points or more in four of those contests.

Four other Trail Blazers reached double digits in scoring. Forward Kevin Knox of Phoenix, Arizona had 19 points off the bench, while forward Trendon Watford of Birmingham, Alabama had 15 points, shooting guard Skylar Mays of Baton Rouge, Louisiana had 13 points, and center Drew Eubanks of Starkville, Mississippi had 12 points.

Entering the contest, the Timberwolves had a record of 39 wins and 39 losses, and the Trail Blazers were at 33 wins and 44 losses. One reason why the Trail Blazers were the heavy underdog is because they did not have their leading scorer, Damian Lillard, who has been shutdown for the rest of the season to risk further injury.

In San Antonio’s win over Sacramento, seven Spurs reached double digits in scoring. Forward Doug McDermott of Grand Forks, North Dakota led the way with 30 points off the bench. Also in a non-starting role, Spurs rookie small forward Julian Champagnie of Staten Island, New York had 26 points. Meanwhile, point guard Tre Jones of Apple Valley, Minnesota had 17 points, center Zach Collins of Las Vegas, Nevada had 16 points, rookie small forward Malaki Branham of Columbus, Ohio had 15 points, forward Keita Bates-Diop of Bloomington, Illinois had 13 points, and rookie small forward Dominick Barlow of Hackensack, New Jersey had 12 points off the bench.

Jones had the first triple-double of his career as he added 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Barlow had the first double-double of his career as he had 10 rebounds.

Entering the game, the Spurs had the third worst record in the NBA at 19 wins and 58 losses. The Kings had the third best record in the Western Conference at 47 wins and 30 losses.

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