Victor Wembanyama made a remarkable comeback from a concussion, scoring 27 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and making seven blocks, as the San Antonio Spurs took control of their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers with a convincing 114-93 victory. De'Aaron Fox contributed 28 points to the Spurs' win, which puts them ahead 3-1 in the series.
Wembanyama, the 7ft 4in Defensive Player of the Year, was cleared to play after passing the league's concussion protocol about an hour before the game. Although he expressed disappointment with the handling of his return and the concussion protocol, he praised the Spurs' medical staff for their treatment. The Spurs initially trailed by 17 points at halftime but managed to tie the game at 74 going into the fourth quarter.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Fox and Keldon Johnson gave the Spurs a 90-77 lead with 7:14 remaining. Johnson's dunk with 4:31 left extended the Spurs' lead to 101-81, effectively sealing the win. Wembanyama reflected on the team's second-half comeback, saying, 'We need to find the answers before having our back against the wall.' He also highlighted the team's strength in adversity, saying, 'We stick together. We get closer to each other, we feed off of each other's energy.' Deni Avdija led the Trail Blazers with 26 points, and a tense moment arose with 2:13 left when Avdija and Stephon Castle exchanged shoves, resulting in offsetting technical fouls.
Avdija commented on the incident, saying, 'You can be tough, you can be physical, but there's a level of disrespect that I'm not gonna accept.' Wembanyama had sustained a concussion in the first half of the Spurs' 106-103 loss on Tuesday and was unavailable for Game Three on Friday night. However, the Spurs rallied in the third quarter to win 120-108 and take the series lead.