After an amazing start to the playoff tournament, the Portland Trail Blazers are the first team the San Antonio Spurs will meet. After that, likely matchups for the Spurs would be the Timberwolves, Nuggets, and Thunder. As the second seed, great things are expected for the Spurs this playoffs, and this article will run down every possible matchup, excluding the Finals.
Ranking The Spurs’ Potential Playoff Matchups’ Threat Levels
Threat-Level Minimum: Trailblazers, Clippers, Suns, And Warriors
The NBA Play-In Tournament has given fans some excellent games. Just look at last night’s ultra-competitive game between the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat. However, there is a huge flaw with the play-in: the teams that win it have no chance. The Trailblazers have already secured their spot and have the longest end of the stick. Whoever wins between the Clippers and the Warriors must play the Phoenix Suns, and then the winner of that game must immediately jump into a series against the OKC Thunder. The team that wins out will be tired and without time to strategize.
Portland Trailblazers
This places the Trailblazers as the clearest threat. Having already secured their playoff spot, they have time to prepare. They also beat Phoenix in their own arena and have a proven leader in Jrue Holiday. Unfortunately for them, the Spurs are better than them at almost everything. In fact, some defensive stats are the only on-paper advantage the Blazers have. They recorded one more block and 60 more steals. They don’t have home court advantage, better play in the clutch, better shooting, or better defense. Their biggest strength is the potential to slow down MVP-candidate Victor Wembanyama. With Robert Williams III and Donovan Clingan, they have solid defensive centers. However, Clingan is too slow, and Williams is not big enough to effectively stop Wembanyama. If they play both centers, they may have a chance.
Clippers, Suns, Warriors
For the other three play-in teams, their chances don’t look great. Both the Clippers and the Warriors have older stars with injury problems. Both Kawhi Leonard (LAC) and Steph Curry (GSW) have been given rest recently to try to prepare for the playoffs. Outside of them, both teams are lacking in depth and would struggle heavily on both sides of the ball without their stars. The Suns have the potential to test the Spurs, but lack consistency, as shown by their loss against the Trailblazers. Jalen Green had the potential for an all-time night, but his teammates failed to get him involved early. All three teams have a low likelihood of making it to the Western Conference Finals to meet the Spurs.
Threat-Level Medium: Lakers, Rockets, And Timberwolves
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers could have arguably been lower on this list. With the 20th-ranked defensive in the league and recent injuries, they are unlikely to make it past the Rockets. LeBron James will play heavy minutes with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves out with injury. All three of these players are in the bottom ten in transitional defense. The Lakers’ limited depth and James’s age make it unlikely they would be much of a threat to the Spurs. “Luka magic” is the main thing giving them the potential to be dangerous. Plus, that’s only if Doncic can return from injury in time and the Lakers survive that long.
Houston Rockets
Various issues have led the Rockets to fall from contender status. Injuries to players like Fred VanVleet and Dorian Finney-Smith have led to depth and playmaking issues. Three-point shooting has not been excellent, and the Rockets take relatively few threes. Kevin Durant had an infamous alleged burner account leaked. For those not in the loop, screenshots of a group chat showed who was allegedly him trashing his teammates. Their big playoff threat to the Spurs is their great coaching and defensive potential. With lots of long and athletic power forwards and depth at the center position, they could disrupt the Spurs’ offense. Especially with excellent zone coverage, which the Spurs have struggled against. They need to figure themselves out first. It’s possible to see them take the Spurs to six games.
Minnesota Timberwolves
This one will surprise some. The Timberwolves have made the Conference Finals two years in a row. However, once there, they were promptly dismantled both years. Although many have looked at this as a sign of success, I view it as the opposite. They haven’t improved much over the past two seasons. Even this year, it was very possible for them to be a fourth or third seed, and they weren’t. The Timberwolves rely on one man to carry them: Anthony Edwards. As great as Edwards is, he can’t do everything through the whole playoffs. This isn’t to say they don’t have depth, but they don’t have a plan. The overall team has not built towards anything clear in the past few years. Not towards depth, defense, shooting, or anything else. They don’t excel at any one thing. Their threat level depends fully on Edwards.
Threat-Level Maximum: Denver Nuggets, OKC Thunder
OKC Thunder
Don’t let the Spurs’ regular-season record against them fool you. The Thunder are the defending champs. The Spurs beat them four-to-one in the season series. However, in one of these games, the majority of the Thunder’s team was resting. And even then, the games the Spurs won were mostly close contests. The Thunder have advantages in experience, steals, and have an extremely consistent leader in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Any inconsistency or poor performance from Spurs’ players will not be affordable against this team. They will be a major playoff threat for the Spurs if they meet in the postseason.
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a threat due to two players and two players alone. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. The rest of the team almost doesn’t matter. When Murray and Jokic are on point, they are almost unstoppable for any defense. Not to mention, they can cause huge foul trouble for the Spurs. The Nuggets also improved the rest of their team in free agency, fortifying their shooting and defense. The Nuggets are arguably the biggest playoff threat to the Spurs and could eliminate them in round two.
Featured Image: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
