The San Antonio Spurs will have to wait and see who they will match up with in the first round of the NBA playoffs, and the Western Conference play-in games will be must-watch TV.
The regular season is over, and with a record of 62-20, the San Antonio Spurs will have to wait and see who they will face off against in the first round. On Tuesday night, the Phoenix Suns will host the Portland Trail Blazers in the play-in game.
The winner of that showdown will advance as the seventh seed, taking on the Spurs, and the loser will play the winner of the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers for the right to match up against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
No matter who the Spurs play, San Antonio will be heavy favorites, but some matchups are more desirable than others.
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This season, the Spurs went 2-2 against the Suns, losing their first two matchups before finding their footing later in the season. In the second loss, Victor Wembanyama did not play, so their mediocre record against the Suns could be misleading.
The Spurs have a 2-1 record against the Trail Blazers this season, but it's not an open-and-shut case. Dillon Brooks might be one of the most physical (dirty?) players in the league, but the Blazers are one of the hardest-hitting teams.
"They're both really good basketball teams," summed up rookie Carter Bryant. "Portland is a really physical team. They like to speed you up. They want you to make mistakes just based on their pressure. They have multiple switchable defenders. We saw it a few times, and they have a pretty good team."
While that sounds like a ringing endorsement for the Suns, Bryant went on:
"With the Suns, the head of the snake being Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks right now, they're playing some good basketball. So, looking forward to seeing who we draw and just focusing on whoever we draw and just focusing on those details."
The slightly more experienced players on the roster don't seem to care either way. Playoff basketball is playoff basketball.
"Seeding to us really doesn't matter," countered Stephon Castle. "We have to just win that game, win the game ahead of us. So just keeping our minds focused on that, you know, no matter who it is."
Based on record and a lack of star power (Booker has a record of taking control of playoff series), the Blazers are the better matchup.
Best-case scenario for the Spurs? Portland wins tonight, and then the Suns beat the winner of the Clippers/Warriors game. Phoenix doesn't have a winning record (2-3) against the Thunder this season, but it stands the best chance of knocking them out early, which is always worth hoping for.