Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs vs. Portland Trail Blazers, Game 3
The second game of the San Antonio Spurs’ first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers went in the worst possible way. Not only did the team lose at home, giving up home-field advantage, but they also lost their superstar big man, Victor Wembanyama, to a concussion. Now, Wembanyama’s status becomes the big question for the third match.
Wembanyama traveled with the team to Portland and is listed as questionable for game three. There’s a chance he could play, but with only 72 hours having passed since the initial injury, it will be a gamble for him to get through the league’s concussion protocols and dress Friday night.
Announcement
If Wembanyama is out, the Spurs will rely on Luke Kornet as their starting center. They will look to the rest of the supporting cast to fill in for Wemby’s scoring in the majority of the team’s first playoff experience in hostile territory. San Antonio won its only game at Portland this season, 115-102. De’Aaron Fox scored 37 points in that game and Kornet kept the scoring going with 3 blocks. That game could be the perfect blueprint to steal a road game and take back a 2-1 lead in the series.
April 24, 2026 | 9.30pm CET
Watch: Amazon Prime Video | Listen: WOAI (12:00)
Spurs injuries: Jordan McLaughlin – Out (ankle), Victor Wembanyama – Questionable (concussion protocol)
Announcement
Trail Blazers Injuries: Damian Lillard – Out (Achilles)
What to pay attention to:
Backup Center Minutes
Congratulations, Carter Bryant! You are de facto the Spurs’ backup big man! When Wembanyama failed, Mitch Johnson went to Bryant as a backup center when Kornet needed a spell. The results were mixed. Bryant plays with excellent energy and has made some winning plays on the offensive end. However, the Blazers attacked the basket even harder when Bryant was playing the five. He was -14 in his 12 minutes. He simply lacks the size to play big minutes at center. Assuming Wembanyama is out, Bryant will likely have to play backup center again. The Spurs will have to hope that the advantages he creates on offense outweigh the problems his lack of size creates on defense.
Announcement
Or, Johnson may need to go deep for at least a few minutes while Kornet sits. Mason Plumlee seems like the most likely candidate to get spot minutes. He was largely ineffective in the regular season, but the Spurs could use another big body at this point. All Plumlee has to do is grab rebounds and hang with Robert Williams III and Donovan Clingan in short spurts to help San Antonio hang on to non-Kornet minutes.
Can the guards come forward?
It wasn’t the best start to the series for the Spurs guards. Fox played the best of the three, but went cold in the fourth quarter of the second game, when San Antonio needed him most. Stephon Castle has been extremely inefficient, going 11-33 from the field in his first two games. Things seemed to be going well for Dylan Harper in game two, but he also made some rookie mistakes. San Antonio will need all three to play their best games to beat Portland on the road.
Fox should have the ball in his hands often. It was great when Wembanyama fell short this season. There’s no reason to doubt his ability to rise to the occasion on Friday. The castle is needed to a large extent on both ends. Whether it’s slowing down Scoot Henderson and Deni Avdija on defense or scoring efficiently at the rim, San Antonio needs Castle to get back on track. Harper can be a spark plug for the Spurs bench which has lacked some strength in the series so far. Either he or Keldon Johnson needs to add some scoring off the bench.
Announcement
Three-point shot
One of the biggest differences between Game One and Game Two was the Spurs’ three-point shooting. San Antonio shot 15-33 (45%) in the first game and 7-24 (29%) in the second. Portland shot under 35% in both games and was 28th in three-point percentage in the regular season. If San Antonio continues to play tough perimeter defense, they can keep Portland at bay from deep. They need to hit threes, especially considering the Blazers have been so effective at protecting the paint.
San Antonio could use some shooting from its best shooters. Julian Champagnie was effective at low volume, hitting 4 of his 6 attempts from three in two games. Devin Vassell went 0-5 from deep in the loss in Game Two. Harrison Barnes has yet to hit a 3-pointer in the series. One or more of these three will need to pose a threat from the outside in what will most likely be a very tough third game.