The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 4-1 in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs and are waiting to see the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers–Houston Rockets series, whom they'll face in the Western Conference Semifinals.

On their way to the series win, Mitch Johnson made an interesting adjustment in response to the Trail Blazers' defensive scheme under head coach Tiago Splitter. Throughout the series, Splitter chose to guard Victor Wembanyama primarily with a guard or small forward - Toumani Camara or Jrue Holiday. His center - Donovan Clingan or Robert Williams - was placed on one of the Spurs' guards, Stephon Castle or bench contributor Dylan Harper, both modest shooters from beyond the arc (33.2% and 34.3% in the regular season, respectively). This allowed Portland's center to provide potential help defense on Wembanyama and, to crowd the paint against the Spurs' primary offensive weapon: drives.

Johnson's solution was straightforward. During the regular season, most handoff or Zoom actions began with a pass to a big man - Wembanyama or Luke Kornet at the elbow - and from there a guard would receive the ball from them. In the playoff series against Portland, Castle and Harper - as well as Carter Bryant when Portland's center was guarding him - initiated the handoff or zoom. When shooters like Devin Vassell or Julian Champagnie received the ball in a handoff, they exploited Clingan's or Williams' retreating stance for a clean look. When Wembanyama received the ball in a handoff, he exploited the drop coverage to attack the rim in stride.

The numbers reflect increased handoff usage: 6.3% of San Antonio's possessions in the series ended in handoffs, up from 5.1% in the regular season. It's reasonable to expect that in the next series, opponents will again search for creative ways to stop Wembanyama - and likely again station their big man on Castle and Harper, daring them to shoot. It'll be worth watching whether Johnson continues to deploy this offensive counter.

Watch Castle, Harper, and Bryant's handoffs from the Portland series: