Misc 2026 NBA Playoffs Spurs Expectations Thread

[blueguy]

One bad game shouldn't change your playoff outlook for this team. It was very disappointing, and yet, it was probably a good wake-up call for a team that had a LOT of things seem easy.

More glaringly is the lack of another backup big (C or PF). That has to be an off-season priority, Wemby and Kornet are NOT enough.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

One bad game shouldn't change your playoff outlook for this team. It was very disappointing, and yet, it was probably a good wake-up call for a team that had a LOT of things seem easy.

More glaringly is the lack of another backup big (C or PF). That has to be an off-season priority, Wemby and Kornet are NOT enough.

All the talk of "Spurs should have avoided Denver" should just motivate this team. Wemby is NOT afraid of Denver that is for damn sure.. Need to take care of business in round 1..

 

[Correct Crusader]

Lock in boys we got this

 

[Coyote2!]

Looking into my crystal ball (which has definitely never been wrong - DO NOT look in any of the "next 10 games" threads):

Spurs in 6 against Suns
Spurs in 7 against Timberwolves (that's right)
Thunder in 6 against Spurs
Thunder in 5 against Pistons (booo)

 

[Maddog]

This team keeps exceeding my expectations- So hopping they keep it up--

 

[TDomination]

I think home court will win us round 2 but we’ll struggle on the road and lose in 7 against okc.

 

[spurraider21]

barring injury, if we are able to get thru Denver its hard to think we are going to lose to OKC on the grounds of experience.

denver concerns me more because joker can more or less neutralize wemby's defense. no other team can do this. jokic can both score on wemby with efficiency and can also drag him out of the paint (denver doesnt have a player wemby can cheat off of), whereas against OKC, Hartenstein cant pull wemby out of the paint, and we've had success hiding him on Caruso, for instance.

if the experience/nerves were going to matter, it would manifest against denver.

 

[spurraider21]

Denver beat us in 5.

game 6 would be in denver, so nuggets in 6 is the likeliest way to lose

 

[spursistan]

barring injury, if we are able to get thru Denver its hard to think we are going to lose to OKC on the grounds of experience.

denver concerns me more because joker can more or less neutralize wemby's defense. no other team can do this. jokic can both score on wemby with efficiency and can also drag him out of the paint (denver doesnt have a player wemby can cheat off of), whereas against OKC, Hartenstein cant pull wemby out of the paint, and we've had success hiding him on Caruso, for instance.

if the experience/nerves were going to matter, it would manifest against denver.

Problem is we haven't been able to stop them at all. They have been hanging 120 ppg on us so easily..I think we might as well let Jokic go apeshit (like 38-40 ppg) and shut down everyone else.

 

[kjhip1]

Uncle Dennis says: Harper out for rest of POs will rehab in New Jersey away from team

 

[DTW]

That loss yesterday was a disaster in every sense. Said beforehand, without the two rotational C's, they'd have been better off sitting the other 80% of the rotation, not risking injury, while admitting to themselves and telling the Nuggets that they wanted to avoid them.

The Nuggets combination of five out spacing, front court bulk, experience and urgency points to a predictable demise.

 

[kjhip1]

Whether its Minnesota or Denver, it'll be a tough 7 game series. Im pessimistic still and think it'll be a toss up but Im leaning towards us losing in 2nd round, which i still find a success for the team. I've gone back and forth on it the whole season. The team has looked great post all star break and I still think the shooting will make us or break us. The defense will be there. The only wild card I would say is Wemby losing the MVP race and being determined to prove why he is the best player on the planet. I would think he takes that personally and responds accordingly. You cant teach his mentality of winning, unfortunately, the team still has to prove they can scroe/shoot when the game slows down. I'm still rooting for them to go all the way and its always GSG!

 

[spurraider21]

That loss yesterday was a disaster in every sense. Said beforehand, without the two rotational C's, they'd have been better off sitting the other 80% of the rotation, not risking injury, while admitting to themselves and telling the Nuggets that they wanted to avoid them.

The Nuggets combination of five out spacing, front court bulk, experience and urgency points to a predictable demise.

yeah i mean to be clear, we still should have been able to win a game against nuggets 3rd stringers. a lot of our guys were just flat.

 

[kjhip1]

yeah i mean to be clear, we still should have been able to win a game against nuggets 3rd stringers. a lot of our guys were just flat.

Denver vs Minnesota is no walk in the park. Denver cannot afford to go cold shooting the ball. Minnesota will give them all they can handle. Im looking forward to watching this series and seeing Antman. Also, the NY vs Atlanta series. I think the Hawks can pull of the upset.

 

[Russ]

One bad game shouldn't change your playoff outlook for this team. It was very disappointing, and yet, it was probably a good wake-up call for a team that had a LOT of things seem easy.

More glaringly is the lack of another backup big (C or PF). That has to be an off-season priority, Wemby and Kornet are NOT enough.

It's an interesting conundrum.

Do you want give this young overachieving team a "wake-up call" so they don't get too big-headed?

Or do you want to buck up their innocent confidence going into something they're never ever experienced before?

Well, in the words of our president, "we'll see what happens."

 

[Mugen]

You take the haymaker in the regular season over one in the playoffs every time tbh.

 

[Kick-Stand]

I'd say the expected value would be a loss in a long WCF series to OKC but this is definitely a team that can win it all.

 

[elpimpo4cc]

I think they lose in round 2 but if they get over that hump, they go all the way

 

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Uncle Dennis says: Harper out for rest of POs will rehab in New Jersey away from team

Dude, why are you posting rubbish like this when it isn’t true?

Edit: okay my bad on missing sarcasm font

 

[LeBowen]

Dude, why are you posting rubbish like this when it isn’t true? Just wtf

Blue font equals sarcasm/satire.

 

[John B]

If they win pass Nuggets, and it’s going to be a 7 game series, Spurs beat OKC in the WCF and Boston in the Finals, winning it all as third youngest team ever (behind 1977 Blazers and 2025 OKC).

 

[LeBowen]

 

[bozhemoi]

Spurs depend a lot on speed and getting downhill on teams, overwhelming them. Playoffs are another matter. Games slow down. Teams get more physical. Possessions get much more important one after another. There's gonna be a lot of growing pains. We need to see how each player individually reacts to the heaviness of the situation and then how everyone acts as a team.

I just want to see the second round. That's my hope and expectation for our first season in the POs with these guys.

 

[Biggems]

Preseason, I picked us 3rd seed, 56-26, and out in the 2nd round.

End of Regular season, we are 62-20 and 2nd seed, thanks to 3 straight losses to Denver. Victor is insane. Castle is out of his mind. I love our D. I love our chemistry. The guys are not scared of the moment. They look hungry, like eating broth with a fork hungry.

The only two teams that make me nervous are NY and Denver. Both teams match up very well with us. We actually played well in many games against both, but our 4th Q play has been complete trash in most of the games. As a team OKC doesn't scare me. Now, watching the refs carry SGA to the FT line all game, every game does make me abit nervous. Still, we dominated them.

I have us finishing the race for Seis in the year of veinte-seis.

 

[Biggems]

Spurs depend a lot on speed and getting downhill on teams, overwhelming them. Playoffs are another matter. Games slow down. Teams get more physical. Possessions get much more important one after another. There's gonna be a lot of growing pains. We need to see how each player individually reacts to the heaviness of the situation and then how everyone acts as a team.

I just want to see the second round. That's my hope and expectation for our first season in the POs with these guys.

Because of this, we need to learn to accept giving up 2 points, instead of switching and double teaming, leaving the perimeter guys open for 3s. Just let Jokic and SGA get theirs, stay home on everyone else.