Victor Wembanyama and most of the San Antonio Spurs will make their playoff debut Sunday against Portland, and they will do it carrying the league's second-best record and a roster built to move fast. San Antonio finished 62-20, won the Southwest Division for the first time since 2017 and now opens a first postseason series since 2019.
That is the backdrop for a team that has spent all season leaning on youth and speed, but now turns to veterans who know what this stage feels like. De'Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, Luke Kornet, Bismack Biyombo and Kelly Olynyk give the Spurs postseason experience to balance an energetic group led by Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell, Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant.
Gregg Popovich addressed the team earlier this week at the practice facility as he continues rehabilitating from a stroke he suffered Nov. 2, 2024, and his message was simple: stay who they have been. Castle said Popovich told them to just be themselves and not do anything different from what had carried them through the regular season, while also giving them another view of how well they have played and where they have put themselves.
Portland arrives with a path earned the hard way. Deni Avdija scored 41 points and had 12 assists as the Trail Blazers rallied past the Phoenix Suns 114-110 on Tuesday to claim the seventh seed, setting up a matchup with the third-seeded Spurs. The teams now meet in a series that pairs San Antonio's depth and pace against a Portland group that had to survive Tuesday just to get here.
For the Spurs, the moment also belongs to players who have waited a long time to get here. Keldon Johnson, Vassell and Champagnie are in the postseason for the first time, and Vassell said he and Johnson were excited and had been talking about it repeatedly, even that morning. He said it means more than basketball, especially for the community and the fans who have been waiting, adding that it has been overdue and the team is ready.
Fox framed the pressure the same way. He said he does not think there is anything in the basketball realm the Spurs should be nervous about, and pointed to what San Antonio has already shown over the course of the season. The Spurs finished third in both offensive and defensive efficiency, a rare combination for such a young team and one reason they enter Sunday with confidence rather than caution.
There is also a familiar face on the other bench. Portland coach Tiago Splitter played five seasons in San Antonio beginning in 2010 and was a key reserve on the Spurs' 2014 championship team, adding another layer to a matchup that already carries plenty of history. The series begins with the Spurs trying to turn a dominant regular season into something more lasting, and to prove that their first playoff trip in six years is not the end of a climb but the start of one.
