By night’s end Thursday, the scoreboard at the AT&T Center registered no surprise.
The Spurs downed Portland 118-110, with the Trail Blazers succumbing to the same fate as the past 43 regular-season opponents to visit San Antonio.
The Spurs, however, were not only playing Portland on Thursday night, no matter what the scoreboard and the schedule said. Late in the fourth quarter, coach Gregg Popovich made sure his players knew it.
With his team ahead by 15 with 4 1/2  minutes to go, Popovich called back-to-back timeouts to blister his team for fading focus. Point guard Tony Parker, the target of Popovich’s ire in one of them, understood the reason.
“Pop was just trying to prepare us for Saturday,” Parker said.
Ah, Saturday.
That’s when the defending champion Golden State Warriors, all swagger and Steph Curry, descend on the Alamo City to take aim at the Spurs’ historic home winning streak.
In the first meeting between the NBA’s top two teams, Jan. 19 in Oakland, the Warriors shellacked the Spurs 120-90.
Preparations for the rematch began with a pair of angry timeouts in the fourth quarter Thursday.
“Pop has always been like that -- stay focused,” Parker said. “It’s a 48-minute game. Saturday, if you rest one minute, they can go up 15-0.”
No team in the NBA tests a team’s every-minute mental focus the way Golden State can.
Thursday, the upstart Blazers -- with should-have-been All-Star Damian Lillard and possible future All-Star C.J. McCollum anchoring the backcourt -- provided the Spurs with a decent enough dry run.
Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge each scored 22 points to lead the Spurs, who blew the game open with a 39-24 third quarter.
With the victory, the Spurs improved to 34-0 at home this season, the second-best mark in league history behind the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ 37-0 start.
It was Parker, orchestrating the entire production, who really hurt the Blazers.
Parker finished with 16 assists, one off his regular-season career high, setting up both Aldridge and Leonard throughout the night. He also quietly finished with 18 points.
“He ran the show, picked on a couple jumpers when they left him open,” said Popovich, whose team equalled a season best with 35 assists. “He was a great floor general.”
Which is why some might have thought it odd when, with the Spurs cruising late in the game, Popovich called timeout to rip Parker after Mason Plumlee intercepted an errant pass and raced for a dunk.
One Portland possession later, Kyle Anderson was late on a rotation, allowing a Gerald Henderson jumper.
That signaled another less-than-pleasant Popovich timeout.
“It’s always the big picture, no matter how the game is turning out,” said backup guard Patty Mills, who threw in 17 points off the bench. “We’re trying to get better. We can’t fall into bad habits, especially at the end of games.”
San Antonio Spurs 2015-16 Playoff Outlook -- PointAfter
If Thursday’s game was a dress rehearsal for the Spurs’ defense vis a vis Golden State’s Splash Brothers, they put in a credible performance.
Lillard -- traditionally a Curry-like thorn in the Spurs’ side -- eventually found his way to 23 points, but not before starting 2 of 13.
McCollum scored 26 points, breaking loose for four 3-pointers.
“We executed better, played better defense (in the second half),” Popovich said. “We switched and guarded a little better than we did in the first half.”
The Spurs will have to be even better on Saturday, and they know it.
In a way, the Spurs are grateful for the Warriors’ head-spinning success.
The Spurs are 58-10, closing in on 63 wins that would match a franchise record, and still likely to finish in second place in the West.
The Warriors’ pursuit of 73 wins has provided a measuring stick that would not have been there in other seasons.
“To have someone else like that to continue to put pressure on us is great,” Spurs captain Tim Duncan said. “It’s great for our focus.”
And if the Spurs were ever to slip in that department?
There is Popovich, ready to call time out and crack the whip.
After Thursday’s victory, the Spurs’ 13th in their past 14 games, Leonard was asked how soon players would allow themselves to begin to focus on Golden State.
“Saturday,” Leonard said. “That’s when we play them.”
Except that isn’t exactly true.
Whether they knew it or not, the Spurs have been preparing to play the Warriors all season long.
Thursday was no different.
Saturday, they finally get a chance to see how far they have come since January.