The San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, and they looked the part of a title-worthy team.
For the first time since 2017, the San Antonio Spurs are advancing to the second round, having beaten the Portland Trail Blazers in five games.
In his playoff debut, Victor Wembanyama averaged 26.3 points, ten rebounds, and five blocks in the games he was fully healthy for, and his two-way impact is expected to be the biggest factor in the Spurs' postseason success.
However, in the game and a half he missed, Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, De'Aaron Fox, and Luke Kornet all stepped up. The playoff experience on the Spurs' roster is very limited, although they already have a championship mindset.
Spurs Are Mentally Strong Enough to Win Finals
The NBA playoffs are a grind, and usually the toughest team is the one that ends up on top.
Any preseason concerns about "experience" or "leadership" should be muted, as the Spurs have dominated all season long and now have a convincing playoff showing under their belt. On top of that, Portland was a worthy opponent, getting physical and downright nasty at times.
It only brought out the best in the Spurs, who didn't mind dishing it right back. In fact, they relished it.
"It brought the best out of us, especially after Game 2, where they won that game just being more physical than us, getting more offensive rebounds than us," said Stephon Castle. "I feel like it was a wake-up call that, you know, we needed, especially this early on in the playoffs. So, I feel like it brought the best out of everybody."
By the end of the series, it was plainly clear that Deni Advija, Fox, Scoot Henderson, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, and Toumani Camara all had varying degrees of beef and animosity. The Spurs--or the ones with postseason experience, at least--think things will get worse before they get better.
That's just the nature of the postseason.
"You see the same team for a week, week and a half, maybe two weeks, you're going to end up not liking each other at least a little bit, just seeing them every other day," added De'Aaron Fox. "And calls at times aren't going to go your way. Shots at times just aren't going to go down, and you've got to be able to find a way to win. And I think the way that we did it was defensively, that's how we won."
By being willing to do the dirty work, play rough, and respond, the young and inexperienced Spurs have the killer instinct that a lot of teams simply lack. If they manage to make the Finals, that mindset will play a massive role.