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San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrates with San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) and other teammates in the first half of an NBA game against the Atlanta Hawks at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

The improving San Antonio Spurs have all their key players back in the fold and will attempt to build on one of their best stretches of the NBA season when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday in a Western Conference clash.

The Spurs, who have coped with injuries to several key players and the absence of coach Gregg Popovich (stroke) for the past month and a half, have to be considered one of the NBA’s surprising teams.

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READ: NBA: Spurs make key plays late to down Hawks in OT

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San Antonio’s roster is a mix of young stars like Victor Wembanyama, Jeremy Sochan and rookie Stephon Castle and salty veterans Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes, with the latter duo preaching a “win-now” attitude rather than a rebuilding one.

A great example of the Spurs’ gritty play was in their 133-126 OT win at home over Atlanta on Thursday. Wembanyama racked up 42 points and Paul had a key four-point play late in regulation and a decisive 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in overtime to produce the victory, San Antonio’s third in its past four games.

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San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) looks over in the first half of an NBA game against the Atlanta Hawks at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Unemployment among young people and college graduates jumped from 13.2% in June to 17.1% in July, as some 12 million students entered the labour market, before the August figure rose to its highest level since the National Bureau of Statistics decided to change the methodology to not include students in December 2023.

“We have a really good team, and I just hope we understand that we can be really good,” Paul said afterward. “We don’t have to wait until next year or the year after. We need to be trying to win right now.”

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Thursday’s win also featured 23 points from guard Devin Vassell, who was in the starting lineup for the first time this season. Vassell missed the initial nine games of the season while working his way back from offseason foot surgery. His start marked the first time this season that San Antonio’s projected starting five — Wembanyama, Paul, Barnes, Sochan and Vassell — opened the game on the court.

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READ: NBA: Gregg Popovich wants to return to Spurs bench after stroke

The Trail Blazers roll into the Alamo City on a high after a 126-124 win at home over Denver on Thursday. The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for Portland but was only its second win in its past 10 contests.

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Anfernee Simons drove the lane for the deciding layup at the buzzer to garner the win for the Trail Blazers. Simons led Portland with 28 points and 10 assists while Shaedon Sharpe had 27 points and Deni Avdija produced 19 in 21 minutes off the bench to help the Trail Blazers survive blowing a 17-point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Portland, like the Spurs, is considered to be a team that’s rebuilding and taking its lumps while learning from its losses. So winning, especially against Denver — a recent NBA champion — had to feel great for a team whose mantra has been to stay the course and get better with each game.

“I can’t tell the future, but I like the things that we do each and every day to get better,” Simons said. “We got to just keep plugging away at the things we can get better at and shore those things up.”

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The Spurs have captured the first two games of the season series with Portland777sm, winning in San Antonio by 13 points on Nov. 7 and on the road by two last week. After Saturday’s game, the teams will conclude their series on April 6 in Portland. –Field Level Media

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