Green heats up from 3-point range
Long-distance threat may be ready to end early-season slump.
Lost in the drama of LaMarcus Aldridge’s homecoming Wednesday night was a solid performance by Spurs guard Danny Green. He scored 11 points on 4-of6 shooting, including a season-best 3 of 4 from 3-point territory.
Green entered the game shooting 21.9 percent from beyond the arc after hitting 41 percent or better the past four seasons.
“I wouldn’t call it a breakout, but I’m little by little trying to feel a rhythm,” Green said. “We are all getting more acclimated with each other, getting more comfortable within the system. So I have to settle down a little bit more and start knocking down shots.
“Tonight it looked good. I was getting shots. But some nights it won’t go that way.”
Green suggested the Spurs’ increased post-centric offense has made it more difficult for him to get the looks he desires.
“I have to move a little bit more, be more patient,” he said. “When I am with the second group, it’s easier for us to get open looks because the pace is a little faster. But either way, I just have to be patient with it and move more. It will come.”
Butler’s stock rising: Three weeks after he earned the Spurs’ last roster spot, journeyman Rasual Butler has earned more trust from coach Gregg Popovich by taking advantage of some increased playing time the past three games.
The 36-year-old guard/ forward has averaged 13 minutes the past three games, including a season-best 15 in Wednesday’s 113-101 win over Portland, after averaging seven in the previous four and not playing in the opener.
“He’s a good shooter,” Popovich said. “He’s aggressive. With the ball, he’s a smart veteran. He makes good decisions. He helps us off the bench because of those things.
“And he’s actually playing better defense than I thought he was going to be able to at (his age).”
Road relief: After playing six of their first eight games on the road, the Spurs will play six of their next seven at the AT&T Center, starting Saturday against Philadelphia.
Nothing personal, San Antonio, but Popovich said he likes being out on the road.
“The team comes together on the road,” he said. “There’s more adversity. You learn it’s a 48-minute game. You learn it’s going to be up and down, that you’ve got to keep plugging, that the next play is the most important. You learn all those things better on the road than you do at home.”
Grape gab: A Portland reporter asked Popovich if he’s concerned about the effect climate change is having on Oregon’s wine industry.
In 2006, Popovich became a partner in an Oregon wine company, A to Z Wineworks, which makes wine and conducts business in the Willamette Valley.
Popovich has a private label through the company, Rock & Hammer pinot noir.
“I’ve thought about it a lot,” Popovich said. “Some people think it’s a good thing ... creates better extraction, more fruit, more like those California (big cabernets). But over time, it’s bad for the pinot noir.”