Harper's upgrade, Castle's status and more in Spurs/Trail Blazers injury report

The Spurs have listed Dylan Harper as QUESTIONABLE for the Silver and Black's next stop on their four-game road trip. San Antonio has played 16 games so far this season, and their fourth-overall pick has only played in six of them. He was a revelation in those matchups, and it will do wonders for this team to get him back before the difficulty setting on their season cranks up.

As far as the rest of the injury report goes, Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, and Jordan McLaughlin will remain out. On the opposite end, the Trail Blazers are hoping to get Shaedon Sharpe back. He's missed the last four games with the dreaded calf strain that's been terrorizing the league this year. The other players on their list are out.

Players out for the Trail Blazers

Scoot Henderson (Hamstring tear)
Jrue Holiday (Calf strain)
Damian Lillard (Torn Achilles)
Matisse Thybulle (Thumb ligament tear)
Blake Wesley (Foot fracture)

Spurs can't look past the Blazers

This is a weird team, and you don't know what you're going to get from them on any given night. The Spurs must be prepared for a high-scoring affair to break out. Portland is sitting in ninth place with an 8-10 record. That doesn't sound scary, but when you look at the names of the teams they've beaten, you start to understand the threat ahead.

Interim Head Coach and former Spurs champion Tiago Splitter has led this team to wins over the Warriors twice, the Lakers, the Nuggets, and they gave OKC their first loss of the season. This isn't a group to be taken lightly. They play fast, and they play hard. Because they're not a supremely skilled bunch, they've been inconsistent, but that doesn't mean SA can sleep on them.

The Trail Blazers' stats are all over the place; they have the fifth-highest pace in the league and take the fifth-most three-point attempts, but they're only 27th in 3PT%. At the same time, they're 11th in threes made. They're second in field goal attempts but 26th in FG% and 17th in made shots. They're also sixth in free throw attempts, second in offensive boards, and 10th in steals. It's chaos.

But this is the NBA, where amazing happens. On paper, the Spurs should win this game, but the game is played on the hardwood. Shaedon Sharpe is their second leading scorer (23 ppg); if he's back, that's an extra headache San Antonio will have to deal with.

They're capable, but they've already shown that they can lose games they shouldn't. As long as they focus on Portland now and the Nuggets later, that shouldn't happen tomorrow.

November 26 update - 03:23 PM

Dylan Harper will make his return tonight. The number two overall pick has missed 10 games with a calf strain. He averaged 14 points, four rebounds, and four assists in the six games he's played. The rookie sensation's presence will undoubtedly energize the San Antonio Spurs as they enter act two of their four-game road trip.