The 2026 NBA Playoffs open in San Antonio with a fascinating contrast in styles as the No. 2 seed Spurs host the No. 7 seed Portland Trail Blazers on NBC and Peacock. The matchup marks the postseason return of playoff basketball to Texas for the first time in seven years. The Spurs (62-20) have been one of the league's dominant forces since February, led by the incredible all-around play of third-year superstar Victor Wembanyama, who averaged 25 points and 3.1 blocks this season. Its been a beat as well for Portland (42-40) since they have seen the postseason. This is the Blazers’ first playoff appearance and in fact, first winning season since the 2020-21 campaign. The Trail Blazers secured the seventh seed with a 114-110 win at Phoenix in the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday. Led by Deni Avdija (24.2 ppg and 6.7 apg) Portland is looking to become just the 4th team to win a playoff series after advancing through the Play-In Tournament since it was adopted in its current format in 2021.
San Antonio won the regular season series, 2-1, including a 112-101 home win on April 8. Wembanyama did not play in any of the Spurs’ 3 games against Portland. It is the only team he did not face this season.
This matchup also pits former high-profile college teammates against each other as UConn Huskies’ Donovan Clingan and Stephon Castle get set to battle. Each are major factors on the Blazers and Spurs respectively. Clingan finished the regular season as the NBA’s leading offensive rebounder (4.5 OREB/gm) and 3rd in the NBA in overall rebounding (11.6 rpg). He also led the NBA in total rebounds (892) and total offensive rebounds (a franchise-record 347). Castle followed up his 2024-25 Rookie of the Year campaign with improvements across the board in points and rebounds as well as a team-leading 7.4 assists per game.
This series may well come down to which team controls the boards. Behind Clingan’s NBA-leading 4.5 offensive rebounds per game, the Trail Blazers were second in the NBA in offensive rebounding (14.1 OREB/gm) and led the NBA in second chance points (18.4 per game) during the regular season. Conversely, thanks in large part to Wembanyama’s 9.5 defensive rebounds per game (second in the NBA, behind only Nikola Jokic’s 9.9/gm), the Spurs led the NBA in defensive rebounds per game (35.6) and allowed the 4th-fewest 2nd chance points in the NBA (13.7 per gm). The breakdown of this matchup may well be that simple.
This will be the fifth playoff meeting between San Antonio and Portland but the first since 2014. The Spurs have won the most recent three series.
Lets take a closer look at tonight’s matchup and take into consideration lineups, injuries, and other factors affecting the line and total.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch Live: Trail Blazers vs. Spurs
- Date: Sunday, April 19, 2026
- Time: 9PM EST
- Site: Frost Bank Center
- City: San Antonio, TX
- Network/Streaming: NBC/Peacock
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Game Odds: Trail Blazers vs. Spurs
The latest odds as of Sunday courtesy of DraftKings:
- Moneyline: Portland Trail Blazers (+400), San Antonio Spurs (-535)
- Spread: Spurs -10.5
- Total: 221.5 points
This game opened Spurs -10.5 with the Game Total set at 222.5.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
Expected Starting Lineups: Trail Blazers vs. Spurs
Portland Trail Blazers
- PG Jrue Holiday
- SG Scoot Henderson
- C Donovan Clingan
- SF Toumani Camara
- PF Deni Avdija
San Antonio Spurs
- G Stephon Castle
- PG De’Aaron Fox
- G Devin Vassell
- SF Julian Champagnie
- PF Victor Wembanyama
Injury Report: Trail Blazers vs. Spurs
Portland Trail Blazers
- Damian Lillard (Achilles) has been declared OUT of Sunday’s game
San Antonio Spurs
- Jordan McLaughlin (ankle) has been declared OUT of Sunday’s game
- David Jones Garcia (ankle) has been declared OUT of Sunday’s game
Important stats, trends and insights: Trail Blazers vs. Spurs
- The Spurs are 32-8 at home this season
- The Blazers are 19-23 on the road this season
- The Spurs are 45-36-2 ATS this season
- Portland is 45-38 ATS this season
- The OVER has cashed in 43 of the Trail Blazers’ 83 games this season (43-40)
- The OVER has cashed in 36 of the Spurs’ 83 games this season (36-47)
- Victor Wembanyama scored 30 points with 10 blocks the last time he faced Portland (December 2024)
- Trail Blazers coach Tiago Splitter spent 5 of his 7 NBA seasons as a player with San Antonio (2010-15) and was a member of the Spurs’ most recent NBA title-winning team in 2014
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Sunday’s Trail Blazers and Spurs’ game:
- Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline
- Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Blazers +10.5 ATS
- Total: Rotoworld Bet is Recommending a play on the Game Total UNDER 221.5
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