The San Antonio Spurs didn’t return to the playoffs. The playoffs returned to San Antonio. Accordingly, these modern San Antonio Spurs didn’t win their first playoff game. Their first playoff game won the San Antonio Spurs, or whatever Kirk Lazarus aka Lincoln Osiris might have said. Everyone’s geeked out once in a while, especially come playoff time. It’s Hollywood—I mean, Fiesta.
And party time never looked so good: Victor Wembanyama had a game-high 35 points scored while De’Aaron Fox and Stephon
Castle had 17 points apiece. The Spurs as a a team went 15 -33 from downtown, good for 45% in their game 1 win.
The national media and social media made a big hullabaloo about the decked out Fiesta colors in the arena and the soft peer pressuring of fellow fans into wearing their (free!) designated t-shirts (looking at you, Tim Duncan) to capture the spirit of Fiesta, and for this time of year, basically a common law marriage with the Spurs also in the playoffs. I’m a little biased, rightfully so, but the Spurs should get some love and attention for a great season and launching of a hopefully even better postseason.
Victor Wembanyama got lower than a pair of apple bottom jeans (boots with the fur) to drive his way past two defenders to earn a tough bucket. We can all breathe a sigh of relief that the team notched game 1, but it does feel like this team also has the “appropriate fear” and respect for the Portland Trailblazers because it will be a long series.
As a not-so-side note, it’s also easy to root for interim Trail Blazers head coach and former Spur Tiago Splitter. He’s done a fantastic job leading his team to the playoffs after an atypical start to the season where head coach Chauncey Billups was arrested as part of a wide FBI gambling investigation. Regardless of what happens this offseason, Splitter should find himself as a top candidate for head coaching gigs whether in Portland or elsewhere.
You know when the washing machine is unbalanced so it makes that loud noise during the spin cycle? There was nothing unbalanced about this spin move Wembanyama put on the defense as he cleared his own path for a clean bucket. Overall, Wembanyama seemed as poised, collected, and in control as any 22-year-old basketball star might be in their first playoff game.
This clip below doesn’t do proper justice to the tremendous end-of-the-quarter sequence by the Spurs where De’Aaron Fox pushed the ball in transition full court knowing full well he was going to laser a perfect pass to Keldon Johnson for the three. Fox drove just far enough toward the basket to draw in the defense and then immediately pivoted toward a trailing Johnson for the open look.
My wife, who hasn’t watched a minute of any Spurs game this season (she’s a busy woman), looked up right when Dylan Harper threw this perfect lob to Wembanyama and said, “Man, that was easy. How do you stop that?” Me, being my usual obnoxious self, tried to mansplain that well actually any lob thrown at Wemby looks perfect because he has an 8-foot wingspan, which makes his catch radius really insanely wide.
She didn’t respond because she was already looking back down at her laptop for work, immune to my long-winded rants.
You have to wonder, though, if any Joe could step on a court and throw a lob to Wembanyama over other professional basketball players and it would look as cool and on the dot as these alley oops.
I know the Chris Paul/Blake Griffin era Los Angeles Clippers own the Lob City moniker, but can we borrow it just for a moment? Paul is a former Spur (once a Spur . . . always a Spur) and Griffin is busy making funny commercials with the great Luis Guzmán—I’m sure they won’t mind.
Stephon Castle on this play looked like he forgot how low the basket is when he jumps that high because it looked like he was at the apex of his hop when he realized that the rim was a full half foot lower than he expected. Castle and Fox, for their part, kept the Spurs offense moving on Sunday night, and we should fully expect them to rack up even more assists between the two of them as the series progress.
Castle knows who he is. He’s the dude playing a dude, disguised as a future All-Star.
Considering how young these Spurs are, Devin Vassell is the wily vet making his own playoff debut. He did not disappoint as he played the most minutes, was impactful on both sides of the ball (2 blocks for good measure), and drained four 3-pointers. On a balanced team of unselfish players, being the fourth highest scorer is a luxury the Spurs will appreciate and use to their advantage.
In case you missed this factoid, Wembanyama had the most points in a Spurs playoff debut:
1. Victor Wembanyama – 35 (2026)
2. Tim Duncan – 32 (1998 at Phoenix)
Maybe if Timmay didn’t have to be “pressured” into wearing his orange t-shirt on Sunday night, his record would still be intact.
Notice how he was the last one in his section to put on the shirt. It’s like that time Kramer wouldn’t wear the ribbon. Oh Timmay, you’re still my favorite player of all time.
OK but David Robinson looks younger than Duncan in this clip. You’d think Number 21 would remember The Admiral’s advice to use Edge shave gel, not just any ol’ shaving cream.
(note: Edge shave gel is not a sponsor of Pounding the Rock. I just like their old commercial featuring Robinson and Duncan. But, if they do want to sponsor us, I will accept H-E-B bucks and garden gnomes as payment.)
If you missed the game because you were too busy with wild horses dragging you away from your television, iPad (tablet), or iPhone (smartphone) (seriously, it’s the playoffs!) (but fellow Spurs fans understand . . . sort of), here are the full-game highlights:
Next up, the Spurs hope to hold home court as they take on the Portland Trailblazers in game 2 on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
