The Spurs medical staff has cleared rookie guard Dylan Harper to play in Game 1 of the first-round Western Conference playoff series with Portland.
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.
“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.
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.