San Antonio Spurs’ Dylan Harper smiles during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
Aaron Gash/Associated Press
Rookie guard Dylan Harper will get the green light from the medical staff to play in Game 1 of the first-round Western Conference playoff series with Portland, coach Mitch Johnson indicated Wednesday.
Harper is nursing an injured left thumb on his shooting hand that forced him to leave Sunday’s 128-118 loss to Denver in the regular season finale in the third quarter, but he fully participated in practices Tuesday and Wednesday, which largely consisted of Xs-and-Os work rather than intense scrimmaging.
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“We expect him to play Sunday,” Johnson said after Wednesday’s workout at the Victory Capital Performance Center.
“He just got it hit and there’s going to be some pain there … He’s got to work his way through that, but we expect him to play.”
Harper averaged 11.8 points, 3.9 assists, 3.4 rebounds and shot 34.3% from 3-point range in 22.6 minutes over 69 games after the Spurs selected him second overall last June in the 2025 NBA Draft.
League MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama also completed his second practice of the week Wednesday after a left rib injury led the Spurs to hold him out of two of the last four games, including the Denver game. In the second-to-the-last game, he had 40 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks in just 26 minutes in a 139-120 victory over Dallas after entering the game needing at least 20 minutes in one of the final two outings to satisfy the NBA’s 65-game rule to qualify for awards.
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Wemby was asked how close he is to being back to 100% after the rib injury:
“I’m very close, but we never really go back to 100%, except before your season (in) the off-season. … There’s always something going on. In terms of regular season shape, I’m very close,” he said.
Coaches relish practice time before playoffs: Coach Mitch Johnson and his assistants are thrilled to be overseeing three practices and a shootaround this week in preparation for the Spurs’ first-round playoff series with Portland.
Game 1 of the best-of-seven affair is set for 8 p.m. Sunday at the Frost Bank Center.
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The Spurs competed their second practice of the week Wednesday. They will resume working out Friday after a day off Thursday.
“It was nice to have a practice,” Johnson told reporters at the Victory Capital Performance Center. “I don’t know the last time I would categorize (that we had the) traditional sense of a practice that we just had. It’s nice to be at home.”
Johnson is trying to maintain a sense of normalcy as the Spurs prepare for their first postseason since they lost in seven games to Denver in a first-round series in 2019.
“There’s some circumstances (in the playoffs) you can’t try to avoid or downplay as much as you’d like to, but, for the most part, things don’t change,” Johnson said. “We’re preparing and we’re attempting to execute and we’re discussing the same things we’ve discussed since October. There’s a lot of external that will obviously now be more present and try to be at the forefront of what’s going on, but there’s really not a lot of different themes and topics and things that we’re emphasizing.”
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It’s an approach two-time All-Star Victor Wembanyama agrees with.
“I can’t really help but dream about (a deep playoff run), but we have to stay grounded, stay in the moment,” the franchise cornerstone said. “And before even thinking about game one, I have to think about showing up the right way, practicing, doing all my stuff, preparing, being locked in on the (scouting report).”
The Spurs are tentatively scheduled to be off again Saturday before holding a shootaround on Sunday morning.
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