Finish Them: How Spurs Closed Out Desperate Trail Blazers to Pass Toughest Test Yet

"It was something that we needed to see as a team," Stephon Castle said about the desperation that Portland played with as the Spurs ended their season in Game 5.

Apr 28, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) pumps his fist after a victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

SAN ANTONIO - In a postseason full of firsts for this young San Antonio Spurs team, they got their first chance to close out a desperate opponent in Game 5 against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Spurs were on their home floor with a chance to advance to the next round and prevent a return trip to Portland, but the Blazers were quite resistant to the idea of their season ending. San Antonio knew that would be the case, so they hit first and then weathered the storm before delivering the knockout blow.

Earlier in the week, Lakers coach JJ Redick provided a brutal but perfect metaphor for what makes a closeout game so difficult.

"Well, you have to kill them," Redick said with a deadpan delivery. "You have to kill...it's difficult to kill someone. Survival instinct says 'I want to stay alive.' So you've got to be able to kill them.”

On an academic level, the Spurs knew this to be true. But Tuesday night was the first time they faced the task of killing a team that desperately wanted to live.

Hit First, Hit Hard

"We talked about a closeout game being one of the toughest games of the series," Stephon Castle said. "Just being able to come out with that kind of energy and set the tone defensively, and then feed off of that energy and pour it into our offense, it was definitely a topic of discussion for the beginning of this game, and I feel like we executed."

The Spurs knew they needed to come out with the right level of intensity and aggression, and they did just that. San Antonio scored the first basket and never trailed, building a 65-45 lead at halftime. Julian Champagnie led San Antonio with 14 points after a red-hot start, and De'Aaron Fox dropped seven dimes.

"We didn't want to go back to Portland," Champagnie said. "That was kind of the emphasis for the guys on the team. We just didn't want to fly back to Portland, four hour flight. Being up 3-1 playing at home, it's a good chance to close it out and not go back. So that was all the motivation we needed tonight."

Apr 28, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) gets pushed by Portland Trail Blazers guard forward Toumani Camara (33) during the first half of game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The Blazers shot under 37% from the floor in the first half, and 19% from deep. The Spurs understood the assignment.

"Great start. It's never perfect, of course. But that's exactly what we said we wanted to do before the game," Victor Wembanyama said.

"All in all, you have to be able to hit first, and I think in Game 2, Game 3, they hit us first, and then we were trying to fight back," De'Aaron Fox said. "We started off on our heels, and had to try to get them on their heels. And tonight, obviously they make a run, that's an NBA team, that's a playoff team. But us hitting first put us into in a great position. Obviously, they fought back, and we were able to respond."

"I thought it's probably our most professional game of the series. I feel like we punched them in the chest first in a game that mattered, especially when they're on the ropes. We're up 3-1, they're on the road. So just trying to send that message to start the game. The way we closed the game, they went on a run, but I feel like we weathered the storm."

The Storm

With the dominant start, the Spurs knew that Portland would thrash with everything they had. Backed into a corner, the Blazers threw stuff at the wall and emptied the clip.

Coach Tiago Splitter threw out some funky lineups with long defenders San Antonio hadn't seen much. Former Spur Sidy Cissoko made an impact, and Vit Krejci got some run. The Blazers finally hit some shots and chipped away, cutting their deficit down to nine as the crowd grew nervous.

"Felt like we weren't sharp for a stretch there, and they there's a competitive group as I've seen in this league," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "Tiago has done a hell of a job. I mean, those guys play so hard for him, and how competitive and physical, and I would expect nothing less, and it did feel like we let our foot off the gas. NBA games are long, so that's not excuse. That means we got to be better."

Apr 28, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Sidy Cissoko (91) reacts after scoring a three point basket during the second half of game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

It's Johnson's job to demand more of his team always, and even in a 4-1 series with four blowout wins the Spurs have plenty to work on.

"Zero lead changes is zero lead changes. So, you know, you talk out of both sides your mouth, but that's pretty damn impressive too. But obviously there was a stretch there where we needed to be sharper and got to continue to play games like it's 0-0, every single possession," Johnson said.

Everyone understood that a desperate opponent is the most dangerous, and this is the most desperate opponent this San Antonio has ever seen.

"It was good competition," Wembanyama said. "Their physical battle is what defines them. So we know they're not going to make things easy, and we're trying to put them away as early as possible, but it's not easy. It's easier said than done, but that's a great team. They give great resistance. It's fun to play against them."

Apr 28, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) dunks ahead of Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) during the first half of game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

The fight that Portland showed throughout this series and particularly in the closeout game will help these young Spurs as they continue to grow.

"We knew that it was going to be like that, especially toward the end of that game when they started to make a couple more shots and start to go on their run," Castle said. "But, I mean, it was something that we needed to see as a team. Stopping runs has been a thing for us all season, so to do it on this stage, and really, just put the ball in Fox's hand and let him create and make decisions, I feel like it was great for us."

Fox the Finisher

As the Blazers claw back with everything they had, the young Spurs found themselves in exactly the sort of situation that many pundits wondered if they'd be able to handle. In that pressure cooker, San Antonio leaned on the veteran All-Star they brought in for moments exactly like this.

De'Aaron Fox hammered the final nails in the coffin in Game 3, then controlled the end of Game 4 in what Johnson said was his best game as a Spur. With Portland scrapping for survival, Fox played the calm and merciless executioner. He scored 13 points on 6-8 shooting in the fourth quarter.

De’Aaron Fox tonight:

• 21 points (13 in the 4Q!!!)
• 9 assists (!!!)
• 3 rebounds
• 8/14 FG pic.twitter.com/wmpzdYlTWX

— Bala (@BalaPattySZN) April 29, 2026

"There are times where you would go through a dry spell, or we have turnovers," Fox said. "Those things happen. For me, I try to not necessarily fix those things myself, but at times, just know where the shots coming from. If I have the ball in isolation, I'm probably going to shoot it, or the guy that you pass it to is going to shoot, that's just the way that isolation goes."

"But for me, especially in the fourth it was just continue to move," Fox said. "I was denied a lot this series. They were physical with me off the ball. Those things happen, get used to it, and we put things in to try to negate that. And that fourth quarter was a lot of that, a lot of me moving without the ball. When I got the ball, pick a matchup, if they double, get off of it, things like that. And I had a good fourth quarter, and we tried to put them away."

"De'Aaron is nice.," Champagnie said. "Obviously, I've been in the league for a couple years now... I've been on the opposite side of that, and it's not fun to have to guard him. When he has the ball, like we trust him, we want him to be that guy for us, that closer."

"He was a Clutch Player of the Year for a reason," Johnson said. "He's in a different situation now in terms of, at times, having the basketball his hands at that volume every single night in the fourth quarter. And he may be as good as any player I've ever seen in terms of balancing how to play off it and then when to go on it, and when he gets on it, he doesn't mess around and he gets right to it. And when we help him with our organization and our spacing and to give him space to operate, we'll be even that much better. But he took over the game, clearly, again tonight."

This whole series, and the whole season for that matter, Fox has kept his finger on the pulse of each game and done whatever that particular situation called for. He sets a fantastic example for his young teammates, and from time to time he takes the wheel and drives the bus home.

"Just watch him play throughout the flow of the game, not really pressing or forcing anything, and then to be able to close the game out like that, like he's been hot the whole night is a talent. So having him with us, especially in late game, close games like that, especially when things start getting tight, the other teams are going on a run, to have that stability from a from a vet guard like that, is good to be a part of."

Apr 28, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) drives to the basket ahead of teammate forward Victor Wembanyama (1) and against Portland Trail Blazers guard Jrue Holiday (5) and forward Deni Avdija (8) during the second half of game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Fox said after the Game 4 win that he loves being a veteran for these guys but laughed as he pushed back on the title of 'Unc' that's been bestowed upon him. Dylan Harper must have seen that, because he poked his head into Fox's postgame interview to say, "That's my Unc!"

There's an undeniable love in the locker room, and Fox is always giving his nephews both advice and the space to grow.

"Just stay in their ear. They're extremely talented. We're in this position because of what they did throughout the course of the season, so they know they belong here. And as a young player, as a player in general, you're going to go through those spells where you turn the ball over a couple times, where you have some bad fouls. But for me, it's like continue to play the way that you play. We're not trying to change anything because you turn the ball over or because you foul, continue to be you, and that's how we're able to dig ourselves out of out of holes."

Passing the Toughest Test Yet

Knowing how hard it is to kill someone who doesn't want to die doesn't make it much easier. Just ask JJ Redick, whose Lakers have failed to end the Rockets two games in a row. That series is heading to Houston for Game 6.

The Magic have the Pistons on the ropes, but couldn't deliver the knockout blow in Detroit. The Nuggets staved off elimination on their home court, and the Celtics couldn't snuff out the 76ers in Boston.

There have been seven potential closeout games so far in the postseason, and the Spurs and Thunder are each 1-0 while the rest of the league is 0-5. Instead of taking that four hour flight back to Portland and going back to work, the Spurs have some time to rest up and prepare for whoever wins the battle of attrition between the Nuggets and Timberwolves.

"It's great. I was just telling I was just telling De'Aaron that it's not too often that you get rest in the NBA, we play games after games after games," said Champagnie. "So having a week, or however long it may be off to just prepare and take care of your body and be well rested to go into the next physical series to fight it out, it's big for us, and I think we'll definitely take the days and we'll take the time to adjust, get our bodies back right, and attack the next series."

It's a well-earned reward for passing the team's toughest test yet, knowing that it will only get tougher from here.

"All the things that are discussed regarding the playoffs are real, obviously, the physicality, the competitiveness, every single possession is survival," Johnson said. "There's a lot of a lot of ways that I can continue to help these guys more than I did these five games, but it was a whole lot of fun, and they did a great job. Did a great job, and I was just really pleased with their competitive response against a team that I think has been as competitive and as physical as we've seen all year, and not just during the playoffs."

"I think the thing that they proved is what they proved all year, we have a lot of room to improve. We have a lot of things we can be better at, but we're ready to step in, ready to step up to the plate and swing," Johnson said. "That's a fun thing to be a part of."