Portland Trail Blazers face Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs to open NBA play-offs

SAN ANTONIO – The Portland Trail Blazers will get their first look at National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player candidate Victor Wembanyama this season, when they travel to Texas to play the San Antonio Spurs on April 19 (April 20 morning, Singapore time) in the opening game of their Western Conference first-round play-off series.

San Antonio have won two of their three games with the Trail Blazers this season – most recently a 112-101 triumph at home on April 8 – but the 22-year-old missed all three contests through injuries.

That does not bode well for Portland’s chances to upset the Spurs, who have lost just four of their last 34 games.

“He will play in the fourth game,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said about the 2.24m star. “That feels good.”

The Frenchman’s numbers this season – 1,600 points, 736 rebounds, 199 assists, 197 blocked shots, 122 three-pointers made – are a combination never before produced in the NBA. Portland interim head coach Tiago Splitter said his team will employ a combined effort to try to slow the San Antonio star.

“Of course Wembanyama is a big emphasis for us both offensively and defensively,” the Brazilian explained. “He’s a seven-foot-five guy that can handle the ball, shoot, guard the rim, guard the perimeter and brings something different that other teams don’t have.

“Every game is a team effort. Stay connected on offence. Share the ball, play together. It’s a big team effort on both ends of the court.”

San Antonio had the second-best record in the regular season with 62-20, trailing only the defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder who finished 64-18. The Spurs are on the hunt for their sixth NBA title in franchise history and are one of the favourites to lift the trophy in June.

But this is lofty company for San Antonio, who had not earned a spot in the play-offs since 2019. They are just the fourth team in league history to win 60 games in a season one year after they won fewer than 35.

“I can’t really help but dream about it, of course,” Wembanyama said about the team’s quest for a championship.

“But we have to stay grounded, stay in the moment. And before even thinking about Game 1, I have to think about showing up the right way. Practise, doing all my stuff, preparing, being locked in.”

The Spurs are far from a one-man team. They had seven players average double-figure scoring during the regular reason, with the Frenchman leading the way at 25.0 points per game in 64 contests. De’Aaron Fox was second on 18.6 points, while Stephon Castle racked up 16.7 points.

“We know where we are,” Johnson said this week. “We will be ourselves. We’ll be excited to play. If that means we come out in the first three minutes and there’s some nerves, I think that’s excitement. But I think we’ll get back to being ourselves. That’s what I expect.

“As soon as we can get back to making it the basketball game we’ve been playing all year, we’ll be in a good spot.”

San Antonio will host Game 2 on April 21, before switching over to Portland for Game 3 on April 24 and Game 4 on April 26.

Meanwhile in play-off action on April 18, Luke Kennard scored 27 points and LeBron James added 19 points with 13 assists, as the Los Angeles Lakers earned a 107-98 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their West first-round series.

Deandre Ayton also contributed 19 points with 11 rebounds, while Marcus Smart had 15 points and eight assists to help the fourth-seeded Lakers win, with stars Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) sidelined.

Alperen Sengun scored 19 points, while Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard each added 17 points for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who were playing without leading scorer Kevin Durant (knee).

“We understand the circumstances that we’re in,” James said of a Lakers team who will be without Doncic and Reaves indefinitely after both suffered late-season injuries. “We don’t have time to wait around, especially versus a hard-playing, well-coached team like Houston. So it was a good first test for us.”

Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists, Jamal Murray scored a game-high 30 points and the hosts Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-105 to also take a 1-0 lead.

The Nuggets trailed by as many as 12 points in the first quarter before bearing down in the second period and pulling away after the break.

Anthony Edwards, back from a knee injury, led the Timberwolves with 22 points, and Rudy Gobert added a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Over in the Eastern Conference, Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points and James Harden added 22 points and 10 assists, powering the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 126-113 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors.

Max Strus scored 24 points off the bench for the Cavaliers, while R.J. Barrett netted 24 points for the Raptors, who never led after the first quarter and trailed by as many as 24 points.

Jalen Brunson scored 28 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 25 for the New York Knicks in a 113-102 win over the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden. REUTERS, AFP