San Antonio Spurs 2025-26 season predictions after NBA schedule release
In the release of the 2025-2026 NBA schedule, the San Antonio Spurs find themselves with 22 nationally televised games, including seven on ESPN and five on NBC, which will carry the NBA for the first time since 2002. With a young talented core that now includes rookie Dylan Harper and led by the return of Victor Wembanyama, here are predictions on how the Silver and Black may fare.
Look for Spurs to start well
Slow Novembers and Decembers have plagued the Spurs in the Wemby era.
After winning three of the their first five games in Wembanyama's rookie season, they famously — or infamously — suffered a franchise record 18-game losing streak.
Much better than that 3-20 start, San Antonio was hovering at right around .500 last year before improving to 15-13 shortly before Christmas Day. While .500 isn't bad, especially for a young squad that was coming off a 22-60 mark, it's not necessarily the work of an expected playoff contender either.
The 2025-26 Spurs will begin the campaign vs. the Dallas Mavericks for a third straight season. This time, though, they won't have to deal with Luka Doncic during the opener. Because of injury, Kyrie Irving won't be in Big D either on Oct. 22. Including that contest, in which the Spurs will look to break a two-game Opening Night losing streak to the Mavs, five of the Spurs' six matchups come against teams that missed the playoffs last season. The exception comes against the Miami Heat, who finished as the East's eighth seed.
Even after games against the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets on Nov. 5 and 6, San Antonio will go through another stretch in which it will mostly face opponents that either didn't qualify for the 2025 postseason or were one of the lower seeds. It's not until the days following Thanksgiving when they'll face the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers that the Spurs will take on very good competition in succession.
45+ wins will get San Antonio into playoffs
A favorable 2025 portion of the schedule will help pad the Spurs' record going into 2026. For instance, San Antonio doesn't face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder until a home-and-home that'll be capped on Christmas Day in one of the team's two games this season on ABC.
Like last year, the Rodeo Road Trip in February will not only include the NBA All-Star break, but also two games in Austin as part of the organization's outreach to Texas' capital city. It's a reality that helps lessen the grind for what essentially amounts to a month away from the Alamo City. Of the nine opponents they'll face in this particular stretch, only the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks advanced past the first round last year.
All told, the Silver and Black have enough opportunities to start well enough to sustain what should prove a final month of the season.
A healthy De'Aaron Fox, reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and Harper, the second overall pick in the draft, will lend more than enough support for Wemby to lead the Spurs over 45 wins and into the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
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