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Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson were the supposed jewels of the 2023 NBA Draft. Three years later, they meet in their playoff debuts after very different paths to this point.
Wembanayma and the San Antonio Spurs look like title contenders for the next decade, while Henderson and the Portland Trail Blazers are quite possibly already stuck on the proverbial treadmill of mediocrity.
My Trail Blazers vs. Spurs predictions and these NBA picks trust Wembanyama to deliver in his postseason debut on Sunday, April 19.
Welcome to the playoffs, Victor Wembanyama. Debuting as a No. 2 seed is already an impressive accomplishment from the young San Antonio Spurs superstar, not that he does not have grander ambitions in mind.
While the 7-foot-4 Frenchman is a difficult matchup for every team in the NBA, he should be particularly frustrating for the Portland Trail Blazers. At 7-foot-2 and 280 pounds, Donovan Clingan is a massive human being, but he's not quite quick or agile enough to defend Wembanyama outside the paint.
Unfortunately for us, Wembanyama never actually played against the Trail Blazers this season, missing all three of those games for various reasons, but this presumption still holds up to scrutiny.
He should get a pile of open looks from deep in this matchup, and shooting 34.9% this season from beyond the arc justifies every one of those attempts.
Wembanyama started showing postseason form before the regular season ended, clearing this prop in four of his final five games. In fact, he scored 40+ points in three of those.
The playoffs may need to brace for Victor Wembanyama.
Clingan has all the looks of a 15-year contributor in the NBA. He may never be All-NBA, but he is a legitimate player. Yet, his playoff debut may be one to forget simply because of Victor Wembanyama’s two-way influence.
Perhaps Wembanyama’s focus will wane in this first round, but that should not come on either end of the court in Game 1.
Portland's best hope of remaining competitive in both this series and particularly this Game 1 is to slow down the pace. Portland has been off since Tuesday’s win in the Play-In Tournament, but it still had to get to San Antonio and prep for the Spurs.
With the clear talent disadvantage, taking some air out of the ball will increase the variance and give Portland at least a puncher’s chance.
The Trail Blazers have gone 6-2 ATS in their last eight games, exceeding bookmakers’ expectations by an average of 6.3 points even when including the two ATS losses. Find more NBA betting trends for Trail Blazers vs. Spurs.
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