There are a myriad of places for hoops fanatics to direct their attention during the second-round matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Portland Trail Blazers that started on Tuesday night.

One interesting story to follow is the the battle down low between sometimes unorthodox defensive strategies.

If you’re done checking through those links (and I highly recommend checking out the one about Batum’s defense), I would like to turn your attention to the true x-factor in this series: a big part of the Blazers’ offensive attack, as they initiate a lot of their sets with Wes on the block. Furthermore, his defense on James Harden in the Blazers' round-one victory was a huge factor, as he rendered the bearded one mostly ineffective. He can beat you in a plethora of ways and whether he plays well or not could be a deciding factor in this series. If the Spurs place too much of their focus on Aldridge and Lillard and forget about Wes, the Blazers could still have a shot at this thing.