San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points with seven rebounds and five steals and the model of consistency that is the San Antonio Spurs advanced to yet another Western Conference final with a 104-82 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Danny Green also tallied 22 points and Tim Duncan added 16 points with eight rebounds to help the Spurs to their third consecutive Western Conference final appearance with a rather easy victory in Game 5 on Wednesday.
"Portland played well offensively in Game 4 so tonight we wanted to come in and play defense," said Leonard.
The win may have come at a cost, however, as San Antonio's All-Star point guard Tony Parker left late in the first quarter with tightness in his left hamstring and did not return.
Patty Mills, who replaced Parker for the remainder of the game, netted 18 points in the win.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich declined comment on Parker's injury due to lack of knowledge on the subject. Parker's status will be determined later in the week.
The Spurs won by an average of 21 points in their three home wins in the series and await the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Oklahoma City currently leads that series, 3-2, with Game 6 set for Thursday in Los Angeles.
"You just do it," Popovich said when asked how his team will stay sharp when coupled with the upcoming rest. "You see it all the time in every sport. We feel great about being able to move forward."
LaMarcus Aldridge paced Portland with 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds and Damian Lillard recorded a 17-point, 10-assist double-double in the setback.
"First off I just want to congratulate the Spurs organization," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "It was a good year for us. It was a special year."
"There were so many positives for this season (and) it's something that we can build on heading into next season," Stotts added.
Nicolas Batum also contributed a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds for Portland, but the visitors were no match for the depth that San Antonio possessed.
San Antonio's bench outscored the Blazers' reserves, 40-8.
The Spurs held the Blazers to 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) shooting from 3-point range and scored 20 points off 18 Portland turnovers.
Duncan scored six points in the early going as the Spurs jumped out to an 8-1 lead. Batum's three-point play later in the first helped the Blazers to a 15-12 lead and the two teams entered the second quarter all knotted up at 19- apiece.
San Antonio led by four when it ripped off a 13-2 run that pushed the margin to 45-30 after Tiago Splitter's dunk at 4:24.
Portland made a push late in the half, outscoring the Spurs 14-6 over the final four minutes to cut the deficit to seven at the half.
The Spurs came storming out of the break on another 13-2 run. San Antonio scored the first eight points of the third and Duncan capped the spurt with a jumper to stake the hosts to a 64-46 advantage with just over eight minutes left.
Seven straight from Portland trimmed to the deficit to 12 and the Blazers trailed 77-63 heading to the fourth.
The defending Western Conference champs poured it on in the beginning of the fourth to the tune of a 16-4 burst that made it 93-67.
The Spurs led by as many as 28 and emptied their bench in the closing minutes as they clinched the series win in convincing fashion.
Game Notes
San Antonio shot 42-for-89 from the field and held the Blazers to 33-of-81 shooting ... Leonard did not commit a turnover in the series ... Each team scored 36 points in the paint ... The Spurs had a 33-6 edge in transition.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.