The Spurs have rolled into November on a five-game winning streak, but the next Western Conference problem is already waiting for them. Portland is coming in with a much sharper offensive profile than the team San Antonio handled in last season’s first-round series, and that makes Saturday’s first meeting a far more dangerous matchup.
That playoff series was a quick one for the Silver and Black. San Antonio knocked out the Trail Blazers in five games on the way to the 2026 NBA Finals, despite Deni Avdija’s relentless rim pressure and a Portland defense that held up reasonably well during the regular season. The difference then was simple: the Blazers’ offense never had enough firepower to keep pace.
This version of Portland looks nothing like that group.
The Blazers spent the summer reshaping the roster, adding a new head coach and putting a stronger supporting cast around Avdija, including Damian Lillard and Ja Morant. That kind of upgrade changes the math for San Antonio, and Mitch Johnson will need his team ready for a very different challenge than the one it solved last spring.
The biggest shift is on the offensive end. In that first-round matchup, Portland’s attack ranked 21st in offensive rating and had major issues from deep. The Blazers were near the bottom of the league in three-point shooting, and those problems showed up in the series, where they shot 40% from the floor and 30% from distance.
Now they’re operating as one of the league’s highest-scoring teams. Portland has made a major jump from three-point range while still keeping a solid presence inside the arc. The Blazers are currently 11th in the league in three-point percentage and points in the paint, which gives them a much wider range of ways to hurt a defense.
That matters for the Spurs because the shot creation is no longer coming from just one place. Lillard hasn’t been efficient to start the season, but he still forces perimeter defenders to work because he can score off the bounce. Avdija is still a major piece, but he’s no longer carrying the offense alone with an All-Star point guard beside him who has been a premier bucket-getter for over a decade.
Morant won’t be available on Saturday, but he will be another issue in future meetings. His quickness and playmaking give Portland yet another dimension, and he has fit surprisingly well on a guard-heavy roster.
There’s also the late-game test. San Antonio has been on a heater, but it hasn’t yet won a clutch battle against an elite, healthy Western Conference opponent this season. The Spurs made things interesting against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets, but they couldn’t finish either one.
Portland has already shown it can close. The Blazers just beat the Denver Nuggets on the road, with Avdija and Toumani Camara making key fourth-quarter plays in Ball Arena. Last week, Lillard buried a huge clutch three to knock off Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers.
So while the Spurs are enjoying their run, November is about to ask a tougher question. Portland has the offense, the shot makers and the late-game punch to push San Antonio’s top-five defense. For a team trying to stay on top in the West, this is the kind of early-season test that can feel a lot bigger later on.
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Keldon Johnson Knows One Big Spurs Night Changed Nothing
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Johnson said his focus stays on improving every day and keeping his effort level high, even with playing time up for grabs around him. For a Spurs team still sorting out roles and looking for consistency, that mindset matters as much as any box-score burst, and Johnson seems determined to keep contributing without letting one encouraging performance turn into a comfort zone. [Read more 🡒]