Analysis 2026 First Round Opponent Watch

[z0sa]

Eh, I don't find any of those three particular worrisome. Clippers are the scariest on paper but they're very much a team that goes through massive lulls as we've clearly seen. They're too top heavy. I think we'd have the most trouble adjustments-wise with Portland. Splitter knows the Spurs sets well, even with Mitch in command and wants to make a splash with adjustments so he can lock up the head coaching job. I seriously foresee a sweep in any of these cases though, with maybe the Clips again taking a game in LA. The Spurs are simply too deep and Wemby is going to be fired up AF for his first playoff appearance.

 

[wEmBoY]

Eh, I don't find any of those three particular worrisome. Clippers are the scariest on paper but they're very much a team that goes through massive lulls as we've clearly seen. They're too top heavy. I think we'd have the most trouble adjustments-wise with Portland. Splitter knows the Spurs sets well, even with Mitch in command and wants to make a splash with adjustments so he can lock up the head coaching job. I seriously foresee a sweep in any of these cases though, with maybe the Clips again taking a game in LA. The Spurs are simply too deep and Wemby is going to be fired up AF for his first playoff appearance.

If spurs play the suns your in for a shock

 

[O_V]

And the clippers have about the same record as them despite Kawhi being healthy the entire year. Wonder why.

Why not? You act like Kawhi is some God level player. Won two finals Andre iguodala style the first time, and injury luck the second. It’s like if Giannis got injured and Jrue holiday had to play on toe bum knees, then having booker win the finals mvp.

If you didn’t know the value of Jrue holiday and how he was instrumental to two titles, don’t be expected to be taken seriously.

You're certifiably an idiot.

 

[Robz4000]

Think the Spurs would legit struggle with the Suns and take 7 games to win the series (blowout game 7 win) but would sweep the Guests and win in 5 against the Clippers.

 

[LeBowen]

Think the Spurs would legit struggle with the Suns and take 7 games to win the series (blowout game 7 win)

Are we really doing this?

Wanna bet?

Clippers aren't taking more than 1 game off OKC if they even beat GSW.

 

[Robz4000]

Are we really doing this?

Clippers aren't taking more than 1 game off OKC if they even beat GSW.

Been pretty adamant all season the Spurs struggle with high volume/high pct 3pt shooting teams which the Suns are on top of being a good defense. All teams fully healthy all season they'd be the fifth seed above the Lakers and Rockets (FVV's injury notwithstanding) tbh.

 

[z0sa]

If spurs play the suns your in for a shock

You're right. I was thinking it was Clippers/Blazers/Warriors for some reason, not Suns. Agree the Suns are not getting swept.

 

[LeBowen]

Been pretty adamant all season the Spurs struggle with high volume/high pct 3pt shooting teams which the Suns are on top of being a good defense. All teams fully healthy all season they'd be the fifth seed above the Lakers and Rockets (FVV's injury notwithstanding) tbh.

I also think the Suns are a more difficult matchup for us than the Blazers, but to say it would be a 7 game series is just some more of your doomerism.
Fifth seed? As if the Lakers or the Rockets would be a legit threat to us.

 

[wEmBoY]

Blazers is the easiest opponent for the spurs in the 1st round.

 

[scott]

I also think the Suns are a more difficult matchup for us than the Blazers, but to say it would be a 7 game series is just some more of your doomerism.
Fifth seed? As if the Lakers or the Rockets would be a legit threat to us.

I’ll be curious what Wemby looks like against Brooks the next time out. The Early Season “They’ve Solved Wemby” really hasn’t been a thing since the Spurs got over the January malaise. He had a bad outing against TOR in late Feb and then the next game against BKN (a blowout) he was kind of disengaged and didn’t do much… but other than that there haven’t really been any bad Wemby games and certainly none where I’ve felt the other team had him figured out. He definitely solved whatever issues HOU gave him previously.

It would not surprise me for there to be a bunch of media hype going into a series against Phoenix where the media hypes up Brooks as a Wemby stopper only from Wemby to completely destroy him and Brooks left to once again look like a clown in the playoffs.

 

[z0sa]

I’ll be curious what Wemby looks like against Brooks the next time out. The Early Season “They’ve Solved Wemby” really hasn’t been a thing since the Spurs got over the January malaise. He had a bad outing against TOR in late Feb and then the next game against BKN (a blowout) he was kind of disengaged and didn’t do much… but other than that there haven’t really been any bad Wemby games and certainly none where I’ve felt the other team had him figured out. He definitely solved whatever issues HOU gave him previously.

It would not surprise me for there to be a bunch of media hype going into a series against Phoenix where the media hypes up Brooks as a Wemby stopper only from Wemby to completely destroy him and Brooks left to once again look like a clown in the playoffs.

I welcome the matchup. Make Wemby confront the poster boy for "get in his space" directly and immediately so he can make the proper adjustments and grow as needed.

 

[Robz4000]

I also think the Suns are a more difficult matchup for us than the Blazers, but to say it would be a 7 game series is just some more of your doomerism.
Fifth seed? As if the Lakers or the Rockets would be a legit threat to us.

The Lakers and Rockets are worse than their records imo, while the Suns are better than theirs. If this was pure doomerism I'd be saying Suns in 6 tbh

FWIW, I think Wemby obliterates Brooks on defense but I also think Brooks/Green/Allen/Gillespie give the Spurs headaches offensively on top of Booker.

 

[spursistan]

I need the Suns for two reasons:

(1) Exorcise the demons of the 2010 WCSF sweep. One of the rare times the Duncan Spurs looked hopeless in a Playoffs series ('01 vs Lakers being probably the only other instance)

(2) Wemby needs to end this 'Dillon Brooks is his kryptonite" narrative once and for all.

 

[John B]

I would very much want to be the team that send Nephew home, but he’s still All-NBA when healthy. Booker can be unstoppable when he’s on a streak. I’d prefer the Blazers as the least threat.

Cos you haven't seen peak Kawhi played so far . Peak Kawhi is better than Manu and Parker

We haven’t seen because he barely plays

 

[John B]

Eh, I don't find any of those three particular worrisome. Clippers are the scariest on paper but they're very much a team that goes through massive lulls as we've clearly seen. They're too top heavy. I think we'd have the most trouble adjustments-wise with Portland. Splitter knows the Spurs sets well, even with Mitch in command and wants to make a splash with adjustments so he can lock up the head coaching job. I seriously foresee a sweep in any of these cases though, with maybe the Clips again taking a game in LA. The Spurs are simply too deep and Wemby is going to be fired up AF for his first playoff appearance.

These are a totally different personnel than when Splitter was a Spur. 3-guards offense with a floating DPOY blocking phenom. That’s not the same with the Big 3 and Diaw as passing big. Our 4 shoots the ball when he sees the light!. Timmy didn’t float around swatting balls all-over closing of 3pt attempts. Both teams seek to move the ball, but still very much different.

 

[ambchang]

You're certifiably an idiot.

You know what, you are right. Because anyone who disagrees with you is an idiot.

We should be petrified of a team ranking 11th in offence and 18th in defence. A Team with the 15th ranked net rating in the league.

We should be scared of a 34 year old superstar who has played 11 playoff games in the last 3 years, breaking down in everyone of them.

Of course, non of this matters because it’s about him having done it before. But that doesn’t apply to Jrue holiday or booker, which somehow not only doesn’t apply but if you brought it up can’t be taken seriously.

So the officially genius argument is the clippers have Kawhi and should therefore be be feared, nevermind he hasn’t done it in at least three years.

 

[Exstatic]

Peak and nephew don't go into the same sentence in 2026.

This. Peak Mute Cancer was probably 2019, and even then, he was dragg8ng a leg by late playoff series.

 

[Ariel]

I don’t get the Kawhi fear. I don’t see him as anything better than wemby and the spurs definitely have better 2-8 than the clippers.

I agree. Not to say Kawhi isn't a great player, but there's more than half a dozen teams clearly above Kawhi's Clippers (OKC, Denver, Minny, Boston, NY, Detroit, Houston, etc). If we're afraid of Kawhi, Spurs have no business being in title talks and we have bigger things to worry about.

 

[scott]

Wasn’t afraid of Kawhi when we smashed him without Wemby two weeks ago (and Kawhi was actually playing quite well) and certainly not afraid of him now, tbh

 

[O_V]

I’ll be curious what Wemby looks like against Brooks the next time out. The Early Season “They’ve Solved Wemby” really hasn’t been a thing since the Spurs got over the January malaise. He had a bad outing against TOR in late Feb and then the next game against BKN (a blowout) he was kind of disengaged and didn’t do much… but other than that there haven’t really been any bad Wemby games and certainly none where I’ve felt the other team had him figured out. He definitely solved whatever issues HOU gave him previously.

It would not surprise me for there to be a bunch of media hype going into a series against Phoenix where the media hypes up Brooks as a Wemby stopper only from Wemby to completely destroy him and Brooks left to once again look like a clown in the playoffs.

Well said.

Early in the season there was some concern that people had figured him out and Victor would dribble into awkward turnovers and really struggled. But after DV came back and the team started to gel, he's really put that behind him. He knows when to pass, he knows when to hold on to the ball, he knows when to roll, he knows when to call for a lob. It's been much, much better.

I don't know that anybody can stop him at this point. If somebody's going to beat Vic, it's going to be with superior offense, and I just don't know if there are enough teams that can shoot that well for a seven game series.

 

[OK Computer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2043404157776777595

Anybody went and heard what he said?

 

[Kick-Stand]

Shocked how hard the Clippers fell off when they were so close to being the favorite for the 7 seed. Now they have to pray Sacramento's tank against a motivated Blazers team fails or they're in the gotta win 2 bottom half of the play-in bracket.

 

[LeBowen]

Shocked how hard the Clippers fell off when they were so close to being the favorite for the 7 seed. Now they have to pray Sacramento's tank against a motivated Blazers team fails or they're in the gotta win 2 bottom half of the play-in bracket.

Warriors-Clippers is a haters' delight matchup, tbh.

 

[inagra]

Blazers or Suns.

Blazers had such low odds of getting here.

 

[scott]

Blazers-Suns should actually be quite an entertaining game. I’m rooting for the ‘Zers