Game Thread Playoffs Round 1, Game 1: Spurs vs Blazers (0-0) (Sun 04/19/2026) [8:00 CDT]

[spursistan]

Bill Simmons with the lazy contrarian take..Just listen to his half-assed delivery; he just wanted to be contrarian..

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046095989220470970

 

[spurraider21]

Fox having 8 assist and no turnovers was big in a game where Castle was struggling and Harper was mostly quiet

 

[Dbreiden83080]

Bill Simmons with the lazy contrarian take..Just listen to his half-assed delivery; he just wanted to be contrarian..

https://twitter.com/x/status/2046095989220470970

When you get this whiny over minor things you have officially gotten old Bill..

 

[Coyote2!]

Bill Simmons still salty about the 1997 draft lottery lol

 

[Sec24Row7]

I dunno, that Avidja flop toward the baseline was awful. And the challenge being unsuccessful because Scoot yanking Wemby's arm downward during a loose ball was apparently 'incidental contact' was pretty bad too. OH, and the Harper offensive foul when he used his shoulder to create space (something Avdija and Shai get away with 4 or 5 times a game). AND the moving screen called on Wemby when he established good position for once in his life (lol). So many more on top of that. Oh man it was infuriating. What happened to home cooking??

All of those other calls are just edge calls that went their way, or honored flops. The scoot one was pretty bad considering but still...

I'd be interested on what the thoughts are on the use of challenges. Seems like most coaches are using them to regain a single possession or to take two points off the board.

I think its far more valuable given the opportunity to use them to take fouls off of your stars in the playoffs, or to give them to the stars of the opposing team, no matter if its the first foul or the 4th.

 

[spursistan]

Fox having 8 assist and no turnovers was big in a game where Castle was struggling and Harper was mostly quiet

Amazing how fast we recalibrated our expectations of Castle. It is not a great game for him unless it's 19/10/12 on 48% shooting

 

[Dbreiden83080]

Steph struggled shooting but played with great heart and shot well from the line. His D was also very good..

 

[Coyote2!]

All of those other calls are just edge calls that went their way, or honored flops. The scoot one was pretty bad considering but still...

I'd be interested on what the thoughts are on the use of challenges. Seems like most coaches are using them to regain a single possession or to take two points off the board.

I think its far more valuable given the opportunity to use them to take fouls off of your stars in the playoffs, or to give them to the stars of the opposing team, no matter if its the first foul or the 4th.

Fair enough. I still think those edge calls added up to a lot of points in Portland's favor.

I don't know much about the dynamics of challenges - but it seems like Mitch and the staff have a bad track record there. My one gripe with him, but it's pretty nitpicky tbh

 

[frenchfred]

Amazing how fast we recalibrated our expectations of Castle. It is not a great game for him unless it's 19/10/12 on 48% shooting

4/13 and 3 TOs is not the most exceptional game he had this season. He'll rebound, this is his first playoff game in only his second season. Harper was also not great and KJ didn't really help on the offensive side. There is room for improvement. The good thing is that Wemby doesn't seem phased by the playoffs and Fox/Vassell/Kornet had a good game.

 

[spurraider21]

Amazing how fast we recalibrated our expectations of Castle. It is not a great game for him unless it's 19/10/12 on 48% shooting

i mean, he wasnt particularly effective on defense. deni still got whatever he wanted and even scoot was scoring on steph

offensively he was being guarded by clingan a lot. made the first 3 he attempted but them missed the next 4. he doesnt need to be shootin 50% every game, but cmon man, 4-13 is objectively a bad game. he did do well to hit all 8 of his FTs. im not saying he was a colossal net negative but he did not play to his standards

 

[Dbreiden83080]

I can listen to Melo and Vince. Tmac just sounds and looks insufferable.

It just occurred to me Wemby is 3 wins away from accomplishing more than T-Mac did in his whole career..


Which would put Wemby in the HOF already by HOF standards..

 

[Fabbs]

We really need to punish that Clingan defending Castle matchup in Game 2. I thought it caught them a bit off guard and Steph was a little too passive in attacking. That has to either be a pull up shot right away or go at him quick.

I noticed Castle very early in the game was turning down wide open trey attempts. What was up with that?
Like Blazers f'd up their rotation and he was all alone for a second or two.

 

[TimmyBuckets]

Vassell was so amazing 3rd quarter. Champ did all the little things so well, too.

 

[benefactor]

Bill Simmons still salty about the 1997 draft lottery lol

It will be a lifelong thing for him. The taste will never leave his mouth

 

[Fabbs]

And it was a terrible call. Fabbs is an idiot.

Actually you are the idiot. We are talking about a different play where no call was made.

spursparker9

I know what you are talking about. IIRC it was either the 1st or 2nd offense play by Portland.

Vic narrowly avoided 2 quick fouls in the 1st 5 min tbh. He made decent contact with the opposing player

 

[scott]

Great pic tbh. The vibes were high last night.

Most visually appealing game I've ever seen... shout out to the fans (and even Tim and Dave) for wearing the shirt!

What was up with that one guy in Orange sitting in the pink section though?

 

[onechance87]

I noticed Castle very early in the game was turning down wide open trey attempts. What was up with that?
Like Blazers f'd up their rotation and he was all alone for a second or two.

They did it to carter bryant as well in his few mins he was in.They gotta make em pay for leaving them wide open.
Castle gotta be more confident as well.

 

[O_V]

Most visually appealing game I've ever seen... shout out to the fans (and even Tim and Dave) for wearing the shirt!

What was up with that one guy in Orange sitting in the pink section though?

I just want to know what KJ said to Ice for not wearing his shirt.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

Most visually appealing game I've ever seen... shout out to the fans (and even Tim and Dave) for wearing the shirt!

What was up with that one guy in Orange sitting in the pink section though?

Ran out of shirts or maybe his section threw him out?

 

[LeBowen]

 

[Spurminator]

The arena looked amazing last night. Props to whichever Spurs marketing person came up with the tri-color shirt idea, and big props to all of the fans for going along with it instead of insisting on showing off their gray Wemby jersey or whatever.

 

[Unseen]

I know nothing will really be done but Mitch still needs to put a complaint into the league office about the officiating. Even if it's just to let the league know that it's some bullshit

 

[Splits]

I know nothing will really be done but Mitch still needs to put a complaint into the league office about the officiating. Even if it's just to let the league know that it's some bullshit

There is a process for teams to send clips to the league office, but it isn't an appeal, more like a feedback request. It is used to influence the referee grading, which is done after every game. It's all internal and non-public so no idea how often teams do this, but I'd expect every team does it in the playoffs.

Here's a long article on it: https://abc30.com/post/are-nba-play...s-lost-control-heres-what-data-says/16505194/

 

[PhantomDashCam]

Great to get the Win.

Love that this team has multiple ways to get things done.
This one, the Wemby game, Spurs Playoff debut record breaker.

Steph and KJ were sub-par. Fox was great in picking his spots. Dev had the nice third quarter burst on both ends.

So many Alley-oops…Could go through the entire 2010s and not see as many as in this one game

 

[BatManu20]