NBA Playoffs: What to expect in Spurs-Trail Blazers series

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This 2-7 Western Conference first-round series between the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers is unexpected in some ways.

Who expected the Spurs to go from 34 victories last season to 62 this season? Who expected the Trail Blazers – under acting head coach Tiago Splitter who took over early in the season – to go from 36 victories to 42?

San Antonio won the season series, taking two of three from Portland including a 112-101 victory on April 8, a game in which the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle did not play.

Series schedule

Here’s how to watch the Spurs vs. Trail Blazers series:

All times Eastern Standard Time

Game 1:

Portland at San Antonio | Sunday April 19 (9 ET, NBC/Peacock)

Game 2:

Portland at San Antonio | Tuesday April 21 (8 ET, NBC)

Game 3:

San Antonio at Portland | Friday April 24 (10:30 ET, Prime Video)

Game 4:

San Antonio at Portland | Sunday April 26 (3:30 ET, ESPN)

Game 5:

Portland at San Antonio | Tuesday April 28

Game 6:

San Antonio at Portland | Thursday April 30

Game 7:

Portland at San Antonio | Saturday May 2

* = If necessary

Regular-season results

Nov. 26:

Spurs 115, Trail Blazers 102

Jan. 3:

Trail Blazers 115, Spurs 110

Apr. 8:

Spurs 112, Trail Blazers 101

Top storyline

Victor

Wembanyama’s

first playoff series

.

In his third season,

Wembanyama

was special

– special

enough to

warrant

Kia MVP consideration and

put himself

in

outstanding position

to win his first Defensive Player of the Year Award. This season, he averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 3.1 blocks and 1.0 steals and shot 51.2% from the field, 34.9% on 3-pointers

. His impact

shines

other statistics

, too

. The Spurs are elite with

on the court, scoring 120.5 points and allowing 103.6 points per 100 possessions – plus-17 net rating. When

he

’s

not in the game, those stats drop to 114.3/113.7/plus-0.6). How will that translate in the 22-year-old star’s first playoffs?

How does the

seemingly unflappable

handle the gravity of a

best-of-

seven

series?

Keep your eyes on

Mitch Johnson.

A

historian needs to go back to the late 1990s to find a Spurs playoff team not coached by Gregg Popovich. That change

s

with this

Spurs

series against

the Trail Blazers

Spurs coach

Mitch Johnson took over for Popovich near the start of the 2024-25

season

after Popovich had a stroke. Johnson was the interim coach last season and got

the

full-time job.

I

t will be

fascinating

to watch his decisions

. Popovich is the Spurs

’ president of basketball operations

, and

Johnson has Pop’s mentoring and insight.

It’s

an advantage

to

rely on

a guy who coached a team to five NBA championships, 22 consecutive playoff appearances and 170-114 career

playoff

record.

One more thing to watch for each team

For Spurs:

Their young(ish) guys beyond Wembanyama were tremendous this season, too. But key contributors Keldon Johnson, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Julian Champagnie and Carter Bryant have never played in the playoffs. They will encounter stressful moments, and watching the Spurs work through those times – with the help of veterans De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes – is a compelling subplot.

For Trail Blazers:

Forward Deni

Avdija

posted All-NBA-caliber numbers this season: career highs in points per game (24.2), free-throw percentage (80.2%) and assists (6.7) along with 46.2% shooting from the field and 6.9 rebounds per game. The Blazers have an intriguing present and future with a talented roster and a new ownership group led by Tom Dundon.

One key number to know

16% —

The Blazers got 16% of their points, the league’s highest rate, from second chances. They ranked

fourth

in offensive rebounding percentage (35.4%) and third in

second-chance points per 100 possessions

(18.1). Only the Nets and Wizards were less efficient than the Blazers in regard to

initial

offense (prior to a rebound), and no team relied more on second chances to score.

Now they’ll face the team (San Antonio) that

led the league

defensive

rebounding percentage (72.4%). The Blazers had some success on the offensive glass in the regular season series, retaining 32.5% of available offensive boards over their three games against the Spurs,

the fifth highest rate

for any team against the Spurs. But all three games were played without Victor Wembanyama, who had

the highest individual defensive rebounding percentage

(28.5%) among players who averaged at least 10 minutes in 40 games or more.

— John Schuhmann

The pick

five

The Spurs have too much offense

and

too much defense

–

ranked No. 3

in both categories

– and too much

* * *

Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at

jzillgitt@nba.com

, find

his archive here

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