SAN ANTONIO – The Spurs are preparing to face the Trail Blazers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
The teams have met four times in the postseason, with the Spurs winning three of those series. Most recently, in 2014, San Antonio defeated Portland 4-1 in the Western Conference semifinals.
That was then. This is now, and much has changed since.
Victor Wembanyama was just 10 years old when the Spurs won that series. Now, he’s a superstar.
As the Spurs chase their sixth championship, they’re getting words of wisdom from one of the NBA’s most accomplished coaches, Gregg Popovich.
“Just to be us,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said. “Not to really do anything different from what we’ve been doing all season. I think he kind of just gave us another perspective of how well we’ve been playing. Just knowing Pop, he’ll always tell you the real.”
Veteran guard De’Aaron Fox also shared his takeaway from Popovich’s message.
“It’s only right he felt like he needed to come in and preach to the choir,” Fox said. “Be the same team. We got the No. 2 seed for a reason. You don’t want to change who you are. You’ve got to go out there and play basketball.”
It has been more than a decade since the Trail Blazers and Spurs last met in the playoffs, this time with very different rosters.
Game 1 is set for 8 p.m. Sunday, April 19, with the Spurs hosting.
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