Portland Trail Blazers vs San Antonio Spurs Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 04/19/26

On day one of the first round, the home teams dominated, going 4-0 overall. The San Antonio Spurs will try to keep the trend going when they open their postseason against Deni Avdija and the Portland Trail Blazers. Spurs’ fans should be loud and excited for this matchup as it is the first time San Antonio has made the playoffs since 2019. Victor Wembanyama has been the biggest reason for the Spurs’ success, averaging 25 points and 11.5 rebounds in his third season. A big question revolving around San Antonio is can Wembanyama continue his success in his first playoff run? The Spurs will get to start their run against a team they beat in two out of three matchups this season. These teams played a couple of weeks ago on April 8th, a game the Spurs won in San Antonio 112-101. The Trail Blazers are the ninth fastest team in the NBA in terms of pace, but the Spurs were able to enforce their style on the game and slow down Portland. Portland may try to speed this game up, but I don’t see them having much success controlling tempo against a Spurs defense that ranks third in defensive efficiency. A big worry I have for Portland in this series is their turnover problem. The Trail Blazers commit the highest average of turnovers per game at 16.5 per game. Against a team that is as long and tough defensively as San Antonio, this game could turn sideways if Portland does not control the basketball. The Spurs have been one of the best teams all season, and I’ll side with their success continuing in the postseason. I’m expecting the Spurs to run away with this one as the Spurs fans celebrate their return to the postseason. 

Spurs -11 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number.