The San Antonio Spurs closed out the Portland Trail Blazers 114-95 Tuesday night and advanced to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 2017. Wembanyama finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and six blocks and made clear afterward that the team is just getting started.
The San Antonio Spurs are through to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 2017. They closed out the Portland Trail Blazers 114-95 Tuesday night at Frost Bank Center, winning the series 4-1 in a performance that left no doubt about which team was better when healthy. Victor Wembanyama stood at the podium afterward and made clear the moment was not lost on him, but neither was the bigger picture.
"Definitely a different feeling to winning against somebody and knowing their season's over," Wembanyama said. "But we're all competitors, so it's good. It's all fun."
Then came the part that should have the rest of the Western Conference paying attention. "I'm still hungry for even better matchups," he said.
Wembanyama finished Game 5 with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and six blocks, never letting Portland get comfortable in what turned into a wire-to-wire victory. The Spurs opened on a 17-4 tear, led by 20 at halftime and by as many as 28 before Portland mounted a late fourth-quarter run to cut the deficit to nine.
De'Aaron Fox responded with 13 of his 21 points in the final quarter to put the game away. Julian Champagnie added 19 points and five 3-pointers in what was easily his best performance of the series. Dylan Harper contributed 17 off the bench.
In the series, Wembanyama averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game while shooting 51.2 percent from the floor, all while missing Game 3 with a concussion after a hard fall in Game 2.
When asked what he wanted Spurs fans to know as the team pushes forward, he smiled. "We're grateful for the way they show up, for how loud they are even at away games," he said. "Our fans are dominating even on the road."
Portland coach Tiago Splitter summed up what the rest of the bracket is dealing with simply. "He can contest the three and the rim at the same time, basically," Splitter said of Wembanyama. "He's going to create a lot of problems for a lot of teams for a long time."
San Antonio will face either the Denver Nuggets or Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round. The Timberwolves lead that series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Thursday.