Wembanyama and Castle's injury status ahead of Trail Blazers clash provides hope

The Spurs will be without both Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle for their late primetime matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers on ESPN tonight, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. This will be the first time the team has missed both players at the same time since December 5 in a loss to Cleveland, but don't expect them to be out long.

McDonald reports the team is "hopeful both play Friday vs. Dallas." If that holds up, it will give both guys at least two more games to get ready for the postseason, and Vic will reach the 65-game threshold. Castle and Wemby will then get one more small break preceding the intense months-long tournament they'll be joining for the first time in their young careers.

But for tonight, San Antonio will have their hands full with a team that beat them the last time they faced off.

Spurs' meeting with the Trail Blazers will be tough

This is actually the worst part of the injury situation. San Antonio was still fine-tuning their execution for the postseason, and you want to head into the playoffs with confidence and momentum. The Trail Blazers threaten to throw off some of the swag the Spurs have built up over the past two months.

The Silver and Black have proven to be a deep roster, capable of pulling out wins when they don't have their full complement of guys, but Portland beat them 115-110. Sure, there was no Wembanyama last time, but Steph was there. This time, the team will be without them both, and the visitors, while committed to the Play-In, are trying to regain some momentum of their own.

The Tiago Splitter-led ball club is 7-3 in their last 10 games but are coming off a loss. They'll be motivated to get back into the winning column, and their confidence will be high after beating the Spurs last time. San Antonio has the tools to pull out the victory, but will they? That is the question. And if they lose, how much does that creep into their minds heading into the postseason?

Hopefully, it doesn't, but you can never tell with a young team. The best thing to do is win and leave no doubts. The Trail Blazers found their stride after San Antonio's 2014 championship center took over early in the year after the Chauncey Billups saga. They still have a shot at passing the Clippers for the eighth seed. If that happens, the Spurs are all of a sudden looking at a potential first-round matchup.

That makes ensuring they have the psychological edge on this team that much more important.