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Editor's note: This story was updated on Monday, April, 13, 2026 at 11:00 a.m.
The San Antonio Spurs now know when their playoff run will begin. Game 1 of the Western Conference playoffs is set for Sunday, April 19, at 8 p.m. at the Frost Bank Center.
Their first-round opponent will be the winner of the NBA play-in matchup between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns.
It marks the team’s first postseason appearance since the 2018-19 season.
The San Antonio Spurs are launching a series of fan events across the city as their playoff run coincides with Fiesta.
The events begin with a Game 1 pep rally at Hemisfair Park at 10 a.m. Sunday. The first 200 fans can get free coffee and tacos.
The team will also host free public watch parties at The Rock at La Cantera for all away games, with events timed around tipoff.
A centerpiece is a pop-up fan shop on the West Side at La Zona, featuring playoff merchandise, photo opportunities and interactive fan activities. The shop opens Tuesday, April 14 at 5 p.m. and will be open daily from noon to 8 p.m.
The Spurs will also transform a 20-foot, satirical statue of Vladimir Lenin at the site into a video screen during the run.
The installation, a noticeable piece of public art downtown since 2022 and part of Centro’s Art Everywhere project, will be covered during the pop-up’s run.
La Zona is a gallery and gathering place at the heart of Zona Cultural — an area of downtown that is being transformed with a new U.T. Campus, a planned baseball stadium, a refurbished Alameda Theater, Texas Public Radio Headquarters, The Continental Residences and new planned retail spaces.
Zona Cultural, led by Centro San Antonio, was designated by the Texas Legislature in 2015. Cultural districts are special zones that harness the power of cultural resources to stimulate economic development and community vitality.
Andi Rodriguez is vice president of cultural placemaking at Centro.
“So we created La Zona, which is a privately owned space, but we offer it to the community, and we just bring folks in and it's really, I think, built upon the potential of the West Side. We're so honored and so proud that the Spurs have chosen our location to come in and share their love and joy with the entire city, the entire community," she told TPR.
Rodriguez said the fan shop will help shine a light on the cultural district.
“When you think about it, what the Spurs bring, they shine a light on all of us and they bring us together, and I think this western part of downtown, it is kind of emblematic of that. This is a place where we gather and great things happen and our community and culture shines. So we're excited to see what happens and Go Spurs Go!"
The Spurs’ presence at La Zona places the playoff run in one of the city’s most active Fiesta corridors on the West Side. For longtime fans, the team’s return to the playoffs also echoes past championship runs, when postseason games and Fiesta often overlapped.
Fiesta officially begins Thursday, April 16, though pre-Fiesta events started Saturday.
This is the team’s 40th playoff appearance in 53 seasons. The young Spurs, led by Victor Wembanyama, are also seen by Las Vegas sportsbooks as among the top contenders to win the NBA title.
More information is available here.
