Forward Harrison Barnes and guard Dylan Harper have been cleared to play Friday night in Game 3 of the Spurs’ first-round playoff series against Portland, coach Mitch Johnson said after practice Thursday.

“They did work out,” Johnson said. “They’re banged up like a lot of guys this time of year, but they’ll be available and good to go.”

Barnes suffered what he called a shoulder stinger when he collided with 7-foot-3 Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan early in the fourth quarter of Tuesday night’s 106-103 loss in Game 2 at the Frost Bank Center. He did not return after leaving the game.

Harper went to the bench with 5:08 left in the game after jamming his left thumb. He suffered the same injury in the second half of the regular season finale against Denver.

Harper checked back into the game with 10.4 seconds left.

Emotional night for coach: When the NBA announced Wednesday that Keldon Johnson had won its Sixth Man of the Year Award, Mitch Johnson immediately reflected on all the work he put in with the forward after the Spurs selected the then-19-year-old Kentucky-ex 29th overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.

“Last night for me was a very emotional. There was a lot of feelings involved,” the coach said. “My first year in San Antonio, Keldon was a rookie and I was a development coach. There were a lot of long nights, early mornings, dark gyms, learning lessons we experienced together that was not for public consumption because he wasn’t playing a lot of minutes.”

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Miami’s Jamie Jaquez Jr. was a distant second in the voting for John Havlicek Trophy.

“I don’t think there’s anyone more deserving because of what his journey’s been,” Mitch Johnson said of Keldon Johnson.”When you know his history here and you know the sacrifices he’s made and how much he’s put this organization and franchise and team first, there’s just a lot that goes into that.”

Then-coach Gregg Popovich moved Keldon Johnson to the bench as sixth man midway through the 2023-24 season. It was a role the Virginia native at first was reluctant to make after several seasons as a starter. In time, though, he embraced it and this season became the first reserve in Spurs history to score 1,000 points in a single season.

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“He deserved it, man,” Spurs forward Julian Champagnie said of his 26-year-old teammate collecting the John Havlicek Trophy.

“He sacrificed. He played in all 82 games. He showed up every day, never changed, was the best player off the bench every day with his attitude, the way he played, his sense of detail and everything. So I don’t think there was nobody else close to winning that award.”

Champagnie also pointed to Keldon Johnson’s always-upbeat attitude and leadership as a reason why he deserved the honor.

“He keeps us uplifted. He keeps the vibe going in the locker room,” Champagnie said. “Anywhere we go, he’s loud. I mean, he brings it every day.”

Credit given to Blazers defense: After re-watching Game 2, Mitch Johnson pointed directly at Portland’s defensive pressure when asked why the Spurs’ play on the offensive end of the court got bogged down during crunch time.

The Trail Blazers held the Spurs without a field goal in the final 3:37 after the home team enjoyed a 14-point advantage midway through the fourth quarter. The Spurs were 0 for 7 from the field, 0 for 4 from beyond the arc and committed two turnovers in that span.

Portland closed with an 11-2 run to even the series at a game apiece.

“I think the offense bogging down was a credit to Portland, and that is something we saw in game one and all the games with them (in the regular season),” the coach said. “They’re going to pressure you and they’re going to play physical, and I think there are some things we can do better to handle that. We saw ways (on video) that it did get bogged down, but it all stems back to their pressure and their physicality and us being able to deal with that and execute at the same time.”

Champagnie said the Spurs just “weren’t as sharp” as they were offensively down the stretch after building the double-digit lead.

“There’s a lot of things we could point that and say, oh, well, this, oh, well, that, but I think we weren’t as sharp as we could have been offensively and defensively. We can’t rely on nobody to make the plays for us. We can’t rely on the referees. We can’t rely on coaches. We have to go out there and we have to make the right plays.”