Game Thread Playoffs Round 1, Game 2: Spurs vs Blazers (1-0) (Tue 04/21/2026) [7:00 CDT]

[Dbreiden83080]

Game 1 of the first round against the Nuggets in 2005 comes to mind

Yes, that was awful and the Spurs played like dog shit. Tim Duncan had a bit of a bad ankle, but he wasn’t out. He played through it. So this feels different.

 

[Spursgenius]

You earn that shit when you get the #1 seed.

while Mitch blows 14 double digit leads to lose 1 seed and game 2 of playoffs

 

[DaSlicer]

these other old first round losses don’t compare because we are looking at missing our best player for possibly the remainder of the series and we gave away a 14pt fourth quarter lead.

Going up 2-0 is a huge advantage and we threw it away. It’s not like other years where we lose a game and think it’s ok Duncan will play better next game

Agreed that's why this loss is very agonizing. I think people are going to do their own cope by saying the Spurs are not that good if they lose the next two games without Victor but realistically I can't imagine the Spurs winning a playoff game without Tim Duncan when he was young and in his prime. I can't see any of the title teams winning a game without him even in round 1. Losing your star player changes the dynamics of the game from an opponent being relatively easy to super hard.

 

[O_V]

Honestly… it’s not a Spurs playoff run without a disappointing early loss

Remember Marbury and Amare banking three-pointers?

 

[Dbreiden83080]

You must be watching a MUCH different play than everyone else, because he doesn't do a spin move or get tripped anywhere near the 3 point line. He's already foul line when he makes his move. He's not wildly out of control, he's just trying to make a quick spin move. He did a normal left handed dribble drive, got into the free throw line extended, and then did his spin move. But you know, definitely continue defending Jrue Holiday tripping him (foul called, replay confirms it as foot to foot contact).

He caught the ball all the way out at the three-point line and then tried to go into his move. You don’t do that against a 6 foot defender when you are 13 inches taller. So the short player can get up into your legs and something like that can happen. That’s easily avoidable. Get to your spot, catch and shoot. Or come off a screen, catch and shoot.

 

[Wemby_Island]

You must be watching a MUCH different play than everyone else, because he doesn't do a spin move or get tripped anywhere near the 3 point line. He's already foul line when he makes his move. He's not wildly out of control, he's just trying to make a quick spin move. He did a normal left handed dribble drive, got into the free throw line extended, and then did his spin move. But you know, definitely continue defending Jrue Holiday tripping him (foul called, replay confirms it as foot to foot contact).

Its a foul, but doesn’t mean he gets the pass at 3 point line and try to dribble through small defenders.

Through out the season we have seen that O hadn’t worked an inch.

 

[Kick-Stand]

He got to the freethrow line and then spun and the defender who is >1 foot shorter than him essentially tripped him (foul called) in a "pull the chair" move that's absurdly dangerous for a player of his size. Again, you can say what you want, but the League needs Wemby. Every team in the league charges much more when he comes to town; he's a cash cow and they need to decide whether much shorter guys tripping him/pulling the chair being the norm is worth the billions it's going to cost them when he spends his career injured or worse due to it.

Truth be told, the fans want Wemby in the paint. If the League's answer to this is, be a jumpshooter, well, that's also going to hurt revenue and the Spurs chances of building a dynasty on top of it (from Spurfan POV). Wemby as a jumpshooter is not a title winning version of him, or at least, not a dynastic version, in my opinion.

Meh pulling the chair is a smart veteran move. Bruce used to do it all the time. Jokic does it too. It's a great move to throw the man you're guarding off and I'd be floored if Victor thought the play was dirty.

 

[DaSlicer]

Heck I remember the Spurs losing game 4 of the the best of 5 against a terrible Sonics team back in '02 with Duncan missing game 4 due to the death of his father.

 

[kjhip1]

was he knocked out or did he have his eyes closed because he was in pain? Dont know that you would let someone who was knocked out like that just get up and run to the locker room...btw no way scoot plays like this the whole series...

 

[Dbreiden83080]

His mid range is golden and he is not even taking those .

He wasn’t put in a best position ever to catch and shoot. Mitch is an avg O coach.

D is what carrying this team.

He has all the talent in the world and the best of the best constantly evolved their game. Over the next 1 to 2 years he has to consistently punish short defenders that try to guard him on the perimeter. The coaching staff has to fix that with a brand new game plan and he has to have a brand new mindset.

 

[O_V]

Its a foul, but doesn’t mean he gets the pass at 3 point line and try to dribble through small defenders.

Through out the season we have seen that O hadn’t worked an inch.

If you haven't seen Victor's game mature against smaller defenders going into the paint over the course of this season, then there's no help for you.

 

[TDomination]

Remember Marbury and Amare banking three-pointers?

Or Vince Carter 3 pointer in 2014

 

[Kick-Stand]

Remember Marbury and Amare banking three-pointers?

That one was fucking terrifying with the way Marbury owned Tony that year.

 

[JBAllDay]

Fox, Castle, and Harper need to come through these next couple of games. After Wemby, our guards are supposed to be the strength of the team. They cannot be getting outplayed by Scoot and Holiday. Losing to the Blazers even without Wemby shouldn’t be an option.

Fox’s trajectory as a Spur could be decided on this series. I didn’t think that would happen until later but here we are.

 

[z0sa]

Meh pulling the chair is a smart veteran move. Bruce used to do it all the time. Jokic does it too. It's a great move to throw the man you're guarding off and I'd be floored if Victor thought the play was dirty.

The problem is, the league has consistently discouraged him getting low and doing something a big man would do against these smaller defenders because they constantly call him for offensive fouls on simple things like swinging the ball through that essentially everyone else in the NBA gets away with, simply because his elbows are at these defenders' faces. He's either forced to do a guard move on these smaller defenders, leading to tangle ups like this that have a high potential for injury, or he's rendered inert and has to take contested jumpshots. I didn't directly call the play dirty; I'm just saying, something's got to give.

 

[The Big Brickowski]

2000- TD knee situation: should've won a repeat that year but pop shut TD down for the POs -- didn't win again until '03. lost 3-1 to the fn suns for goodness sakes. (pop suckers say that resulted in TD staying healthy the rest of his career (He didn't.)) Going to be a big moment in Mitch history whether or not Vic comes back.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

Its a foul, but doesn’t mean he gets the pass at 3 point line and try to dribble through small defenders.

Through out the season we have seen that O hadn’t worked an inch.

Bingo.

 

[Wemby_Island]

I have watched every Spurs game this year dating back to game 1 of regular season.

1st Q of season : Spurs O with Wemby sucked when they tried to give him ball at 3 point line and he trying to get through small defenders to score.

Its either a turnover or steal majority of the time.

Then he started taking mid range jumpers coming off screen and they were Golden.

Then towards the end of season they completely moved anway from those and mostly 3 pointers and rim attack which worked as well.

Wemby needs to learn to get into sweet spots on O and Mitch needs to learn to talk with him and help him to focus on his shooting capabilities. He is one of the finest shooters in the league. Thats his strnegth.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

was he knocked out or did he have his eyes closed because he was in pain? Dont know that you would let someone who was knocked out like that just get up and run to the locker room...btw no way scoot plays like this the whole series...

It looked like he was out of it for like one second. He officially has a concussion unfortunately and they’re going to reevaluate him tomorrow. I’d be surprised if he plays Friday. We should have enough to win on Friday. We should’ve won tonight.

 

[Snake Eyes]

I know HB has not produced as much lately and especially in the series. However, there is some concern about him being available with Victor down as well. A positive is, if CB has to play significant minutes it will only going to help him for the future. And maybe he produces. He was pretty good tonight.

 

[z0sa]

Part of the problem, as has been the problem consistently, is that the Spurs haven't given Wemby much in the way of guidance or guard rails. I understand the psychology behind it, but it's a factor in dumb shit like this occurring as well. I agree, to an extent, that getting the ball 25 feet away consistently against smaller defenders shouldn't be anywhere near the fucking gameplan. That said, that wasn't what happened for this injury. He was already free throw line extended when he tried his move. It wouldn't have been any different had he received the ball right there and started dribbling as opposed to the 3 point line, in this specific case.

 

[Dbreiden83080]

Part of the problem, as has been the problem consistently, is that the Spurs haven't given Wemby much in the way of guidance or guard rails. I understand the psychology behind it, but it's a factor in dumb shit like this occurring as well. I agree, to an extent, that getting the ball 25 feet away consistently against smaller defenders shouldn't be anywhere near the fucking gameplan. That said, that wasn't what happened for this injury. He was already free throw line extended when he tried his move. It wouldn't have been any different had he received the ball right there and started dribbling as opposed to the 3 point line, in this specific case.

For me, the bottom line is he shouldn’t have to work that hard to get up a shot against somebody that is 13 inches shorter. The game plan should get him some much easier shots. Giannis needs to do shit like tonight because he can’t shoot. Victor can shoot.

 

[elpimpo4cc]

Crazy to think the Spurs win this if we have Jrue instead of Fox or Tiago instead of Mitch

 

[LeBowen]

Crazy to think the Spurs win this if we have Jrue instead of Fox or Tiago instead of Mitch

Or Timelord instead of Olynyk/Biyombo/Plumlee.

 

[elpimpo4cc]

For me, the bottom line is he shouldn’t have to work that hard to get up a shot against somebody that is 13 inches shorter. The game plan should get him some much easier shots. Giannis needs to do shit like tonight because he can’t shoot. Victor can shoot.

Wemby has zero footwork or goto moves in the high or low post. If fucking hrue holiday is on Timmy or Drob it'll be an automatic quick shot and bucket, if not a rapist dunk +1

is there no word in French for 'pivot foot'