League sets fixed calendar dates for Spurs' 2026 second‑round series
- San Antonio locked in its Western Conference semifinal calendar after beating Portland 4-1, with Game 1 set for May 4 at Frost Bank Center. - The fixed cadence runs May 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15 and 17, giving the Spurs home games first as the West’s No. 2 seed. - It matters because San Antonio is back in Round 2 for the first time since 2017, while Denver-Minnesota still isn’t settled.
The Spurs have something they usually don’t get this early in May — certainty. After closing out Portland 4-1 in the first round, San Antonio now knows the calendar for the entire second round, even though it still doesn’t know whether the opponent will be Denver or Minnesota. That sounds small, but in the playoffs it changes a lot. Travel, recovery, practice load, even ticket sales all get easier once the dates stop moving. (nba.com) ### What exactly got set? The league’s current playoff schedule and the Spurs’ own team schedule both show the Western Conference semifinals opening Monday, May 4, in San Antonio, with Game 2 on Wednesday, May 6. Then the series flips to the lower seed’s arena for Games 3 and 4 on May 8 and May 10. If the series keeps going, Game 5 is Ma(nba.com) May 17 back at Frost Bank Center. (nba.com) ### Why do the Spurs open at home? San Antonio finished as the West’s No. 2 seed, so it gets home-court advantage in this matchup no matter whether the opponent is the No. 3 Nuggets or No. 6 Timberwolves. That means the standard 2-2-1-1-1 format works in the Spurs’ favor — two at home, two away, then alternating if needed. Basically, they earned the cleaner path. (nba.com) ### Who are they actually waiting on? That part is still unsettled. Minnesota led Denver 3-2 entering Game 6 on Thursday night, with a possible Game 7 scheduled for Saturday, May 2. So the Spurs know when they play, but not who walks through the door for Game 1. That’s the weird playoff in-between — the bracket is half locked, half foggy. (nba.com([nba.com))) ### Why do fixed dates matter so much? Because playoff prep is a logistics puzzle. Once the dates are firm, San Antonio can map treatment days, film sessions, travel windows, and practice intensity instead of waiting on the previous series to resolve. For a team leaning on Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, and a young core that hasn’t liv(nba.com) It’s less about comfort and more about not wasting energy on uncertainty. (nba.com) ### How did San Antonio get here? By handling Portland in five games. The Spurs won Game 1, dropped Game 2, then took control with three straight wins — including a 114-95 closeout in Game 5 on April 28. That gave them extra rest while Denver and Minnesota kept playing. In playoff terms, that’s a real edge — fewer miles, fewer emergency adjustments, more time to heal. (nba.com) ### Why is the 2017 note such a big deal? Because this is the franchise’s first trip to the second round since 2017. That’s a long gap for a team that used to treat deep playoff runs like routine spring maintenance. The Spurs are not just back in the bracket — they’re back in a part of the bracket that actually feels consequential. That changes the mood around the team and around San Antonio. (expressnews.com) ### What should fans watch next? First, the Denver-Minnesota series. That decides the matchup. Then the TV times, which are still listed as TBD on the official schedule. The dates are fixed, but the exact tipoffs and broadcast windows can still shift once the opponent is known and the rest of the playoff board fills in. (nba.com)? The Spurs don’t have their opponent yet, but they do have their roadmap. In a playoff run, that’s not trivial — it’s the first sign that San Antonio’s season has moved from nice surprise to serious operation.
