By Oliver Carter
The San Antonio Spurs have won an NBA playoff series for the first time since 2017 and their first series win of the Victor Wembanyama era.
While the Portland Trail Blazers fell at the first hurdle, being unable to get past the first round of the playoffs in their last three appearances: 2025/26, 2020/21 and 2019/20.
Story of the series
The second-seed eliminating the fifth-seed in five games is just about the most predictable outcome of a series possible
The series having an MVP finalist and newly crowned DPOY sustaining a concussion and missing a game and a half is not a textbook one whatsoever.
Wembanyama came out of the gates of the series firing on all cylinders as he set a franchise record, scoring 35-points, the most by a San Antonio Spur on a playoff debut ever.
After his concussion incident midway through the second quarter of Game 2, the Blazers were able to close out and win by three points in the Frenchman’s absence.
With Wembanyama in concussion protocol and set to miss Game 3, the future of the series was called into question.
Questions were swiftly answered as Dylan Harper and Stephen Castle stepped up to fill the shoes of their missing team-mate as they combined for 60 points to lead the Spurs to a comfortable 120-108 road win.
Game 4 marked the return of the 2023 first-overall pick as he was cleared from concussion protocol and picked up right where he left off with 27 points, 11 rebounds and an incredible four steals and seven blocks, holding the Blazers to under 100 points for the second time in the series.
Game 5 was more of the same, a comfortable Spurs win anchored by Wembanyama with 17 points, 14 rebounds and six more blocks in a 95-114 home court series closeout.
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Never-ending defensive impact
The impact that Wembanyama has on winning is almost impossible to put into words.
His insanely high level of defensive impact as he totalled 16 blocks across the series doesn’t do justice to the shots he also deters at the rim.
Forcing players to pass the ball instead of taking easy layups, knowing a 7’5’’ three-time NBA block leader is waiting at the rim is what his presence brings.
In three games of the five-game series, the Portland Trail Blazers ended the game scoring less than 100 points.
98 in Game 1, 93 in Game 4 and 95 in Game 5, mark the three games Wembanyama was fully healthy.
The two games Wembanyama missed, the Blazers managed 106 and 108 points.
Becoming the first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, averaging four blocks per game, including a game in which he left injured after being on the floor for just 12 minutes, holding an opposition team under 100 points every time he is healthy.
The defensive impact Wembanyama possesses is unprecedented. The Frenchman is well on his way to comfortably being the best defensive player in the history of the NBA.
How far can the Spurs go?
The consensus among most NBA fans and analysts alike, is the idea that a young team needs at least one playoff elimination before that core can win the championship.
With four of the five usual starters and head coach Mitch Johnson all making their first playoff appearance, you would expect the team to look nervous, shaky, and unable to adapt to the intensity of the playoffs, but that couldn’t seem further from the truth.
This San Antonio team improved from a 34-48 record last season to an incredible 62-20 record, earning the second seed in the West.
The jump the Spurs have taken this season is a perfect showing of the maturity and confidence this young group of players hold.
Embedding themselves in both old and new traditions, looking to replicate the iconic atmosphere the 2000s Spurs built off the back of Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
While the Blazers were not a true test of the Spurs’ grit and determination, the dominance they showed across this first-round series proves they have arrived with intent.
The Detroit Pistons struggling in their first round series against the Orlando Magic is a perfect example of what can happen to a young team in their first playoff appearance.
Their second round match-up will be against the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Denver Nuggets.
Whichever team they face will be a real challenge, the Wolves having made the Western Conference finals the past two seasons in a row, and the Nuggets boasting Nikola Jokic and the 2023 championship.
Either opponent will be all about Wembanyama’s match-up, either against the three-time MVP Jokic or four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
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Liberty Nicholson-Hulse