Game Thread Playoffs Round 1, Game 3: Blazers vs Spurs (1-1) (Fri 04/26/2026) [9:30 CDT]

They're probably gonna have to give minutes to Plumlee even if it's like 2-4 mins per half tbh. They can't survive getting killed on the boards in those lineups without Luke tbh and we need to buy him some rest.
 
I wouldn’t bank on Victor playing in the series at all. Even less so if we drop both in Portland, at which point there might not be a very long series to begin with

Considering wemby got hurt with nine minutes to go in the second quarter with us down by two at the time and how the next 2 1/2 quarters played out from there. It’s abundantly clear we are capable of winning. Taking two of the three regular season games is another indicator of this.

We are going to have to ask a lot of Luke in this series. He’s going to have to play more minutes than he’s used to and against a very physical center in Clingan. Fortunately, he’s not a huge scoring threat. It’s just going to be a matter of keeping him at bay on the boards.

We are also going to have to lean on Carter Bryant more than we may have wanted to. I just hope the minutes he has to play against Clingan are minimal.

And at least one of cast or fox is going to have to figure something out. Jullian and Devin should be getting their shots off of other players. The more we lean on the Vassell to try to create buckets and not just taking clean looks due to advantages caused by other players, the more trouble we are going to be in.

Still too early to call it without a formal update for the team. But I'd be surprised if he's not back by Game 5 at the latest tbh, even if they're down 3-1 heading back to SA. That's a full week from the injury and he's going to push to play.
 
Still too early to call it without a formal update for the team. But I'd be surprised if he's not back by Game 5 at the latest tbh, even if they're down 3-1 heading back to SA. That's a full week from the injury and he's going to push to play.
game 5 seems like the earliest case scenario. and if our guys cant manage to split the road games, with him coming back down 3-1 that leaves no margin for error and its not exactly like we've been humming through two games
 
If we lose to Portland then I think this is a failure of season because clearly they should be able to easily beat Portland even without Wemby so it's all on them. Im not expecting a Title this year or anything although that would be awesome but if this team can't beat Portland then there are some major issues that still need to be addressed for the next season
 
this blazers team got so many tough defenders on the perimeter and at the rim

Keldon doesnt really have an advantage to just bully himself to the rim, same with Castle.

Castle, Fox and Dylan needs to figure this out, play smarter, hit their mid range. Kick out a step or two earlier before getting into trouble and our perimeter shooters need to hit a good percentage

Kornet really needs to play more mins without Wemby.
 
If we lose to Portland then I think this is a failure of season because clearly they should be able to easily beat Portland even without Wemby so it's all on them. Im not expecting a Title this year or anything although that would be awesome but if this team can't beat Portland then there are some major issues that still need to be addressed for the next season

The biggest issue is if they lose this series is going to be lack of size. This is why I'm not feeling too good about their chances without Victor since the Spurs are a small team outside of him and Luke. When neither of those guys are on the court as we saw in game 2 then they get killed on the boards which results in them losing. Win or lose the Spurs will have to address their size issue this summer and get 2 more big bodies.
 
Wow that's really a fuck you by the league since it's possible Victor could miss that game. I was hoping game 5 would be on Wednesday so Victor could return.
G5-7 dates are already known, it's just that we don't know the time slots until it's official that the game will be played.
It's Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday for G4-G7.
 
I'm apparently the last person on planet Earth that realized SpursTalk is now a ghost town. So here I am.

Let's fucking go in Game 3. Hold it together until Wemby can make his return.
Geez man better late than never. Glad you found your way to this place. We need some positive vibes around here after game 2, and I'm feeling some with your post (y).
 
If we lose to Portland then I think this is a failure of season because clearly they should be able to easily beat Portland even without Wemby so it's all on them. Im not expecting a Title this year or anything although that would be awesome but if this team can't beat Portland then there are some major issues that still need to be addressed for the next season

But we do have a lot of issues. There is nobody to back Wemby/Kornet when they are injured. Castle and Harper are young, they had a good year but it was expected for them to struggle in the playoffs. Fox has been inconsistent this year, no reason for that to change in the playoffs, he already had a stinker in game 2 and I don't see him suddenly becone a 27 PPG on good shooting for the rest of the series. Outside shooting has been inconsistent and still is. Without Wemby, the team won't beat Portland.

Personally, my expectation this year was direct qualification to the playoffs (done) and second round exit assuming that we would have Wemby. Without Wemby, I'm not surprised if this is the end of the road. That means that next year we need to fix some of those issues.
 
But we do have a lot of issues. There is nobody to back Wemby/Kornet when they are injured. Castle and Harper are young, they had a good year but it was expected for them to struggle in the playoffs. Fox has been inconsistent this year, no reason for that to change in the playoffs, he already had a stinker in game 2 and I don't see him suddenly becone a 27 PPG on good shooting for the rest of the series. Outside shooting has been inconsistent and still is. Without Wemby, the team won't beat Portland.

Personally, my expectation this year was direct qualification to the playoffs (done) and second round exit assuming that we would have Wemby. Without Wemby, I'm not surprised if this is the end of the road. That means that next year we need to fix some of those issues.
A sobering post that's probably closer to reality. I'm going to choose not to go down that path/train of thought and say we can still win without Victor. This team can turn it around.
 
They're probably gonna have to give minutes to Plumlee even if it's like 2-4 mins per half tbh. They can't survive getting killed on the boards in those lineups without Luke tbh and we need to buy him some rest.
Mason Plumlee Playoff minutes in the big 2026… tragic tbh.

But you're right. No way they can continue to trot out 6'6 Carter Bryant at Center and expect not to get destroyed by a team employing 7'2 280 lb Donovan Clingan (who led the league in Rebounds this season) and 6'10 250 lb Timelord (who's averaging 15 Rebounds per 36 this season).

We'll prob get destroyed in the the Plumlee minutes regardless like we did against Denver 2 weeks ago, but you at least have to try imo.

 
Mason Plumlee Playoff minutes in the big 2026… tragic tbh.

But you're right. No way they can continue to trot out 6'6 Carter Bryant at Center and expect not to get destroyed by a team employing 7'2 280 lb Donovan Clingan (who led the league in Rebounds this season) and 6'10 250 lb Timelord. We'll prob get destroyed in the the Plumlee minutes regardless like we did against Denver 2 weeks ago, but you at least have to try.

Rather see KO out there
 
A sobering post that's probably closer to reality. I'm going to choose not to go down that path/train of thought and say we can still win without Victor. This team can turn it around.

you never know how players react to pressure and adversity. Pressure has always been an issue for youngsters so no surprise to see Castle and Harper struggle, I hope that they can turn it around but I wouldn't be mad at them if they don't. The lack of interior presence, tall starting PF and decent backup for Wemby/Kornet is a front office issue that won't be fixed this year. I'm still hoping that Fox will get his shit together and play like Sacramento Fox but he hasn't all year long. Now, some of them might just be pissed off at the situation and sad for Wemby that it could change their mindset and the way they'll approach the next few games. So, I would love to be wrong and for the players to overcome their current struggles
 
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you never know how players react to pressure and adversity. Pressure has always been an issue for youngsters so no surprise to see Castle and Harper struggle, I hope that they can turn it around but I wouldn't be mad at them if they don't. The lack of interior presence, tall starting PF and decent backup for Wemby/Kornet is a front office issue that won't be fixed this year. I'm still hoping that Fox will get his shit together and play like Sacramento Fox but he hasn't all year long. Now, some of them might just be pissed off at the situation and sad for Wemby that he could change their mindset and the way they'll approach the next few games. So, I would love to be wrong and for the players to overcome their current struggles

The other issue is that our guards got used to playing around Victor gravity on offense, they don't have it anymore that's another challenge right there.

Nevertheless this team had also some quality wins without Victor all year long, besides it is not like Portland has a roster full of POs experienced players except for Jrue and they are also playing without their star player.

Even without Victor losing this serie would be a disapointment. Spurs have the talents to overcome the challenge. Fox was also brought in to be that veteran presence and to a lesser extend Barnes, it is up to them to find a way to help our young guys to calm the fuck down and execute.
 
you never know how players react to pressure and adversity. Pressure has always been an issue for youngsters so no surprise to see Castle and Harper struggle, I hope that they can turn it around but I wouldn't be mad at them if they don't. The lack of interior presence, tall starting PF and decent backup for Wemby/Kornet is a front office issue that won't be fixed this year. I'm still hoping that Fox will get his shit together and play like Sacramento Fox but he hasn't all year long. Now, some of them might just be pissed off at the situation and sad for Wemby that he could change their mindset and the way they'll approach the next few games. So, I would love to be wrong and for the players to overcome their current struggles
Agreed to me it's the size issue that will play a huge role in if the Spurs lose this series. There is a chance they can overcome it but the only way they can is they have to start hitting consistently the 3 point shot and then they would be able to speed up the game and disrupt Portland on the defensive end by forcing them to rush their offense to keep up.
 
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