Victor Wembanyama is officially listed as "questionable" for the San Antonio Spurs' Game 3 matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers.
On Thursday, the San Antonio Spurs took a charter flight northwest to Portland. Victor Wembanyama was on the plane, and he is officially listed as "questionable" for Friday's Game 3 showdown.
The Blazers went on a fourth-quarter run to take Game 2 and even up the series on Wednesday, and if Wembanyama misses extended time, the Spurs will remain favorites against Portland, but it could be an uphill battle.
In Wembanyama's absence, Scoot Henderson went off for Portland, leading all scorers with 31 points in Game 2. There was a time when Henderson rivaled Wembanyama as the best player in the 2023 NBA Draft class, but as soon as their pro careers got underway, it became less of a contest.
However, Henderson has been downright elite in the first two games. He wants to see Wembanyama return for Game 3, and he wants to put on a show for his local Portland fans.
Scoot Henderson Wants Wembanyama Back
If Wembanyama misses the entire series (which doesn't seem likely) and the Blazers win, it might go down as the biggest "asterisk" in NBA history.
Henderson doesn't want that. Even more, he wants a shot to beat the Spurs while they're in their best form. That means Wemby needs to be back on the court.
"We hope he plays," Henderson said. "We hope he's healthy so we can go out there and compete."
Even with Wembanyama out, the Spurs are a formidable opponent. Carter Bryant has slotted in as a small-ball center, and Luke Kornet is one of the best backups in the league. The Spurs went 2-1 against the Blazers in the regular season without Wembanyama, so Henderson knows it will be a tough fight no matter who San Antonio trots out.
"I pray that he's good," he added. "But I think the way they play without him is probably faster. You know, sometimes they might rotate to a small-ball five with Bryant. I think the way they play is just faster than with Kornet down there. He's pretty much kind of the same as a shot blocker or presence around the rim. I don't want to say he's the same person, but they have a lot of the same abilities to protect the rim. So, we got to just continue to run them, hit them. Same mission that we had in Game 2 and game one was to be aggressive, get downhill, play fast, play together."
Game 3 will tip off at 9:30 PM CST, with the broadcast carried by Amazon.