San Antonio Spurs, the reigning Western Conference champions, visit Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Saturday night in a rematch of April’s first-round series, with both teams playing the second game of a back-to-back.

The Spurs eliminated Portland 4-1 on their way to the NBA Finals after finishing second in the West, while the seventh-seeded Trail Blazers have since hired Micah Nori as head coach and welcomed Damian Lillard back from an Achilles tear.

What is the form for San Antonio Spurs vs. Portland Trail Blazers?

The Spurs have won seven in a row, and Friday’s 124-109 victory at Sacramento came two nights after Victor Wembanyama’s 52 points, 24 rebounds and eight blocks beat Dallas 112-111, with Wembanyama scoring 10 of San Antonio’s last 12 points.

Wembanyama then scored 30 against the Kings, 20 of them in a runaway first half, and Stephon Castle added 19 points to settle a game that never became close despite the quick turnaround from Wednesday.

Away from San Antonio the Spurs are 3-0 with a differential of +12.3 per game, and those results leave them fourth in the Western Conference standings with a 7-2 record.

Portland started 3-0 under Nori, including a 136-129 win at the Lakers on 27 October, but Friday’s 124-118 defeat at the same opponent ended a three-game winning run after the Trail Blazers had led by as many as 16 in the first half.

Portland’s attack rates higher per possession than San Antonio’s, and the Trail Blazers make more threes with 15.9 a game against 11.9, but the Spurs hold the defensive edge and the net ratings of +9.1 and +8.6 are separated by half a point.

That defensive edge shows in shot quality too, with Spurs opponents shooting 47.3% against 50.0% for Portland’s, a mark that ranks 17th in the league against San Antonio’s fourth.

Turnovers are the widest gap, since Portland gives the ball away 16.8 times a game to San Antonio’s 12.9, and that is the stat most likely to separate two sides whose records are one win apart.

Both teams are on the second night of a quick turnaround on the NBA schedule, and San Antonio have nobody from their regular rotation missing while Portland are without two rotation guards.

San Antonio Spurs vs. Portland Trail Blazers team news and rotations

Portland are without Ja Morant, who is out with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, and Vit Krejci, who suffered a left leg fracture in Wednesday’s win at Phoenix.

Shaedon Sharpe is also out with a torn meniscus, which leaves Lillard, Scoot Henderson and Jrue Holiday to cover the guard minutes, and Henderson is shooting 31.7% from the field this season.

Lillard, Henderson, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija and Donovan Clingan are expected to start for Portland, with Holiday, who averages 13.3 points, likely to lead the bench.

For San Antonio, Tobias Harris and Jayden Quaintance are out but neither has played this season, so the rotation of De’Aaron Fox, Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell and Wembanyama is effectively intact, with Wembanyama, Harper, Fox and Vassell each averaging 30 minutes or more.

The matchups that could decide Spurs vs. Trail Blazers

Wembanyama’s 24 rebounds and eight blocks against Dallas set the standard for the Portland frontcourt, and Clingan is the centre who starts opposite him with Robert Williams III as the other big man in the rotation.

At guard the question is how much Portland can score without Morant, since Lillard makes 2.9 threes a game while Fox shoots 53.0% from the field and has Castle and Harper alongside him as extra playmakers.

Player props for San Antonio Spurs vs. Portland Trail Blazers

How have San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers fared head-to-head?

The Spurs won April’s first-round series 4-1, clinching with a 114-95 victory in San Antonio in which Wembanyama had 17 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks.

Portland’s only win, in Game 2, came while Wembanyama was sidelined, and Game 3 turned on a Spurs comeback from 15 points down behind a career night from Harper, in a series physical enough that Henderson and Harper clashed at the end of the third quarter.

The Spurs also took two of the three regular-season meetings in 2025-26, and the sides meet again at Moda Center in an NBA Cup group game on 25 November with ESPN set to televise it, making this the first of two meetings in 18 days.

San Antonio Spurs vs. Portland Trail Blazers tips and prediction

San Antonio’s road form, their turnover edge and Portland’s depleted guard group point to a Spurs win by a margin large enough to cover the spread, particularly with Wembanyama in the form he has shown this week.

Portland’s shooting defence has leaked recently and both attacks are efficient, so the scoring should land above the total even with tired legs on both benches, and Portland’s three-point volume gives them a route back into any stretch of the game.