It Takes 2 Overtimes for Portland to Take 3-2 Lead Over San Antonio : Western Conference: Trail Blazers waste 22-point third-quarter lead but hold on to win, 138-132.

The Portland Trail Blazers have not lost at home to San Antonio in more than four years, but they needed two overtimes and a steely jump shot from a guy from Zagreb, Yugoslavia, to keep their streak intact.

In a punishing battle of attrition, the Trail Blazers outlasted the Spurs, 138-132, in two overtimes Tuesday night to take a three-games-to-two lead in the Western Conference semifinal playoff series.

Game 6 will be Tuesday night in San Antonio.

“We are going down there with the intention of ending it,” Clyde Drexler said.

It shouldn’t have been that difficult Tuesday night, but the Trail Blazers blew a 22-point third-quarter lead and needed a clutch 18-foot jumper from Yugoslav Drazen Petrovic in the final minute of the second overtime to slip past the Spurs.

Petrovic’s straight-on jumper with 54 seconds to play gave Portland a 134-131 lead and followed an offensive foul by David Wingate, who became the fourth Spur to foul out.

On the next Spur possession, Petrovic deflected an inbounds pass off Terry Cummings’ knee and the Trail Blazers got the ball back.

Terry Porter’s two free throws with 44 seconds left and two more by Jerome Kersey with 11 seconds remaining ensured that there would be no more San Antonio comebacks.

“We made it a little harder than we needed to,” said Porter, who had 38 points, 27 in the first half. “But somehow we got away with a win. We didn’t want our season to end so soon.”

All told, six players fouled out, but Buck Williams, who proved valuable bumping David Robinson, was not one of them. The Trail Blazers desperately needed Williams on the court, since backup center Wayne Cooper sat out his second consecutive game because of back spasms.

“It seemed like everything was going against us, but now we just need one more,” Portland Coach Rick Adelman said.

In addition to his offensive contributions, Porter helped put Spur center Robinson out of the game.

Robinson, who had 27 points and 15 rebounds after a slow start, fouled out with 1:05 left in the first overtime, joining Rod Strickland and Willie Anderson, who already had fouled out.

Porter drew Robinson’s sixth foul with a strong drive up the middle, then made two free throws for a 126-124 lead.

Cummings forced a shot from the side and missed, but Petrovic failed to advance the ball across midcourt and San Antonio got the ball back with 42 seconds left.

From the right wing, Sean Elliott tied the score at 126-126 with 20 seconds remaining.

Porter was double-teamed and lost the ball, complaining loudly that he was fouled by Reggie Williams, but there was no call. Only 0.05 seconds remained and the Spurs tried a lob pass that failed at the buzzer.

The Spurs reached the first overtime in improbable fashion. They probably couldn’t believe their good fortune.

--Wingate made a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in regulation to tie the score, 119-119, despite the fact he made no three-pointers during the regular season.

--Portland led by 22 points, 91-69, with only 5:17 left in the third quarter.

--Drexler missed a free throw with 7.9 seconds left that would have won the game.

Said Drexler: “We played like boneheads.”

Drexler, who finished with 35 points, fouled out with 2:59 left in overtime.

Cliff Robinson soon sat beside him with six fouls.

Porter, who made slightly more than one out of every three of his three-point shots during the season, made five of six from beyond the stripe in the first half.

The object of Porter’s first-half offensive plan was simple--just stand behind the three-point line and wait for someone to pass him the ball.

By halftime, Portland had made 10 of 11 three-pointers and led, 72-53.

San Antonio trailed by as many as 20 points in the half and probably would have been out of sight if not for the 16 points Anderson scored on the run.

Robinson was defended by Williams, whose defensive style tended to be something of a heavy lean, and Robinson did not seem to like it.

The 7-foot-1 Spur center played a passive first half. He scored nine points, but took only six shots and had only two rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers scored in spurts: 12-2 to begin the game, then 17-4 to open up a 38-19 lead.

Cummings had 32 points for the Spurs, who will play host to Game 6 Thursday.