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

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

That does not bode well for Portland’s chances to upset the Spurs, who lost just four times in their 34 games since March 1.

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

Wembanyama’s numbers this season – 1,600 points, 736 rebounds, 199 assists, 197 blocked shots, 122 3-pointers – are a combination never before produced in the NBA. Portland acting head coach Tiago Splitter said his team will employ a combined effort to try to slow the Spurs’ star center.

“Of course Wembanyama is a big emphasis for us both offensively and defensively,” Splitter explained. “He’s a 7-foot-5 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 offense. 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 NBA this season at 62-20, trailing only defending champion Oklahoma City (64-18). The Spurs are on the hunt for their sixth NBA title in franchise history and are one of the favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June.

But this is lofty company for San Antonio, which hasn’t earned a spot in the playoffs since 2019. The Spurs are just the fourth team in league history to win 60 games in a season a year after they won less 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. Practice, doing all my stuff, preparing, being locked in.”

San Antonio are far from a one-man team. The Spurs had seven players average in double-figure scoring, with Wembanyama leading the way at 25 points per game in 65 contests. De’Aaron Fox was second at 18.6 points, and Stephon Castle (who had five triple doubles) racking 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.”

Game 2 will be Tuesday night in the Alamo City before switching to Portland for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and April 26, respectively.

Meanwhile in play-off action on Saturday, 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 Western Conference first-round series.

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

Over in the East, 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.

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