FOR A GOOD 90 minutes before the San Antonio Spurs' first playoff game in seven years, the crowd inside Frost Bank Arena seemed fully engaged in one of the most effective forms of peer pressure imaginable. Every one of the seats inside the arena had a pink-, orange- or teal-colored T-shirt on it to celebrate Fiesta Week in San Antonio.

There are no exceptions. No trading colors. If Spurs legends David Robinson and Tim Duncan can wear orange shirts and longtime Spurs president RC Buford can wear hot pink, you can, too.

Those who don't are immediately caught by in-house cameras and shown on the arena scoreboard, then jeered mercilessly by the crowd until they acquiesce, which they always do.

Before the players took the floor, nothing seemed more important to the crowd Sunday than this game of "Put Your Shirt On."

That is, until Victor Wembanyama stepped onto the court in matching bright orange, size-20.5 shoes to warm up before his first playoff game.

As he gathered himself on the court, the music dimmed. Fans across the arena began recording the moment on their cell phones for posterity.

There aren't many firsts left for Wembanyama, but this first playoff game was as important to him as it was to a city that has waited seven years to return to the postseason. The fans had never waited more than one year in the 53 years since the franchise moved to San Antonio.

"The first time I stepped on the court, even for warmups, I felt the atmosphere was different," Wembanyama said. "Everybody was ready. The fans were ready. It's probably the most excitement I've seen this year in this arena."

Wembanyama more than met the moment. He plowed through it with the kind of force only his lithe 7-foot-4 frame can generate once he hits top speed. His final line -- 35 points on 13-of-21 shooting with five 3-pointers, five rebounds and two blocks -- tells only part of the story of the Spurs' Game 1 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Yes, he broke Tim Duncan's franchise record for points in a playoff debut. Yes, the Trail Blazers were 0-for-11 on shots where he was the primary defender.

But it's how easily he accomplished those feats that resonates and makes the rest of the league shudder about what he could do over the next few decades -- and how little the other teams can do to stop him.

DUNCAN AND ROBINSON sat 10 rows up Sunday night to witness Wembanyama's playoff debut. Both have welcomed and mentored him since he came to San Antonio three years ago.

But neither Hall of Famer made a play similar to the one Wembanyama completed 6½ minutes into the game.

Wembanyama grabbed a rebound off a Deni Avdija miss, looked up the court and saw daylight. Centers are supposed to pass the ball to a guard in these situations. But no such rules apply to Wembanyama. If he sees space, the Spurs trust him, 22 years old and 7-foot-4, to initiate the offense.

It's really something to see a man that tall dribbling coast-to-coast that fast and that well. It's even more surreal to see a man that tall dribble behind his back, spin away from defensive pressure into the lane, take two steps toward the rim and throw down a thunderous dunk as Wembanyama did a few seconds later.

Duncan and Robinson were as astonished as the crowd by the play. NBC's cameras caught the Hall of Famers clapping and smiling in amusement.

"It's something you know he's capable of," Spurs center Luke Kornet said afterward. "But it's also something we've never seen before."

Wembanyama practices this kind of drive during his warmups before every game. He'll throw the ball off one basket, grab the rebound, survey the floor and pick up speed as he dribbles.

Player development coaches Jon Harris and Curtis Lewis wait for him as he crosses half court. Harris, a burly forward who played in the G League and professionally in Germany, Canada and Argentina, defends him first, bumping him hard enough to shift him off course. Lewis, a smaller guard who played collegiately at Rockhurst University and Flagler College, doubles him near the 3-point line.

Wembanyama never picks up his dribble. He either splits the double-team, spins around it or Eurosteps through the key.

He saves the thunderous dunks for the game. And it brings down the house every time.

"Did I dunk it?" Wembanyama asked after the game. He didn't seem to remember the play that will surely go down as the signature one of his first playoff game. "I'll have to look again."

AS THE LATEST in the line of Spurs big men selected with the No. 1 pick, Wembanyama will always be linked to Robinson and Duncan, both of whom shined in their playoff debuts as well. But it's another generational superstar to whom Wemby was drawing comparisons Sunday.

Twenty years ago, LeBron James played in his first playoff game for the Cleveland Cavaliers, finishing with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over the Washington Wizards. At the time, James was just the third player in NBA history to record a triple-double in his playoff debut.

Wembanyama couldn't quite match that feat, but he was the 13th player to score at least 35 points in his first taste of playoff action. Similar to James, the Spurs' big man played his first playoff game in his third season. Wembanyama is the same age James was when -- a year after his playoff debut -- he took the Cavs to the NBA Finals, coincidentally against Duncan and the Spurs.