Game Thread Playoffs Round 1, Game 3: Spurs @ Blazers (1-1) (Fri 04/24/2026) [9:30 CDT]

Don't get carried away. You can't just have your offense be all about 3 guards attacking the paint. It works more often than not but it's the playoffs and that'll make your offense predictable and easier to gameplan for. Vic can be the hub of a great offense especially when things slow down. Mix and match. Variety, is all.
Truth be told, in this current iteration of the Spurs, I get more of the vibe that VW spends a lot of time as a decoy attracting multiple defenders while guys like Harper, Castle and yes, even Fox go to work.

That's what's going to be hard to adjust to for opposing teams, at least. Do you try to play VW 1 on 1 and let him score 40 every night, or contain him and hope the inexperienced (but gaining experience every game) young bucks don't burn you repeatedly?
 
100% agree on the rebounding. Spurs had more 2nd chance points than Portland and it was due to a lot of wings getting into the lane and keeping balls alive.
Nice that Dylan and the after game show gave props to Luke, Carter, and Keldon for bringing the energy and "doing the little things not in the box score" that changed the game.
 
Don't get carried away. You can't just have your offense be all about 3 guards attacking the paint. It works more often than not but it's the playoffs and that'll make your offense predictable and easier to gameplan for. Vic can be the hub of a great offense especially when things slow down. Mix and match. Variety, is all.
How is 3-guards moving the ball predictable?? On the contrary it creates open shots to Champs, Vassell, CB. Wemby is a big target. I’m not saying Wemby doesn’t post here and there, of course. But playoff teams become more physical. It’s 1st round and already he got hurt.
 
The best case scenario was Wemby playing tonight and kicking ass. Winning this game without Wemby and handing the adversity in the process was the next best outcome. Hopefully the big fella comes back and they can wrap up this series in games 4 and 5. It can’t be overstated how valuable this experience will be as they play later in the postseason.
Disagree, this was the best case scenario. No Wemby, Portland looking primed to run away with a blowout win in the third, starting to feel like they're gonna win this series...only for the Spurs' young guns to walk them down and not just win but win fairly comfortably. Portland also had tons to crazy shit go their way with Holiday turning back the clock and Scoot looking like a star again, yet still lost to the Spurs sans Wemby. This is gonna be a tough loss for the Guests to recover from tbh.
 
I want to highlight that Luke has a sneaky athleticism that seems to take many defenders off-guard.

I'm not saying he's a high flyer or anything, but he surprises defenders with his ability to consistently play above the rim on lobs and rebounding.
Lobs are easy setup’s. Steph going through defenders always puts that guy open as defenders try to block his shots.

He has average athleticism but great hustle and will power is what i felt.
 
Disagree, this was the best case scenario. No Wemby, Portland looking primed to run away with a blowout win in the third, starting to feel like they're gonna win this series...only for the Spurs' young guns to walk them down and not just win but win fairly comfortably. Portland also had tons to crazy shit go their way with Holiday turning back the clock and Scoot looking like a star again, yet still lost to the Spurs sans Wemby. This is gonna be a tough loss for the Guests to recover from tbh.
Jrue is amazing, man. I wish he had become a Spur at some point in his career. Severely underrated.
 
If Wemby is ready to go Sunday and passes protocol, does the team still play it conservatively and not play him after seeing how they responded tonight?
 
Disagree, this was the best case scenario. No Wemby, Portland looking primed to run away with a blowout win in the third, starting to feel like they're gonna win this series...only for the Spurs' young guns to walk them down and not just win but win fairly comfortably. Portland also had tons to crazy shit go their way with Holiday turning back the clock and Scoot looking like a star again, yet still lost to the Spurs sans Wemby. This is gonna be a tough loss for the Guests to recover from tbh.
More than that, Spurs have no pressure to play Victor Sunday if he's not completely cleared. Wait until Tuesday, with at first, a three game series with home court advantage.
 
And Kornet was arguably the best player all around in terms of consistent solid minutes each quarter. Such a steady presence, even got Mitch to challenge a call that was reversed for us. Shit, he even hit a fucking three lol.
That 3 cracked me up lol I was like damn ol' nigga still got it
 
Dylan going at Scoot was the turning point in this game. I feel Scoot has been playing with too much swag in this series which has allowed him to play out of his ass. Once Dylan started going aggressively at him that's when Scoot's confidence started to fade and then he started to brick the shots that he was making prior to Dylan going at him.
 
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