The San Antonio Spurs lost their superstar and the game in Game 2 against the Portland Trail Blazers, and they will need De'Aaron Fox to step things up.
The San Antonio Spurs are tied with the Portland Trail Blazers 1-1 in their first-round series, and with Victor Wembanyama in concussion protocol, the Spurs are shorthanded.
In Game 1, Wembanyama was easily the best player on the court, and in Game 2, for the most part, the Spurs looked like the better team even without him, jumping out to a 13-point lead. However, the Blazers battled back and took the second game 106-103, evening up the series as it heads to Oregon.
In Game 2, De'Aaron Fox finished with 17 points, although went only one-fo-six from the floor in the deciding fdourth quarter. As both a former Clutch Player of the Year and the highest-paid player in franchise history, the Spurs need to ask more of Fox, and he needs to deliver in Game 3.
De'Aaron Fox Has a Lot on the Line in Game 3
When the Spurs signed Fox to a four-year maximum contract extension, the $229 milliuon price tag was met with some skepticism.
After all, this was a player who had never won a playoff series, and the Spurs had youngsters Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper set up to be the backcourt of the future.
The one saving grace for Fox is the fact that he is an experienced veteran who thrives under pressure. The Spurs traded for him and extended him in case Wembanyama got injured, so they would have a star who could take over. In Game 2, he was tasked with exactly that, and he simply came up short.
Making only one shot when the team needed him most is unacceptable, but Fox put the burden on the entire team, not just himself.
"The entire team has to step up because he leaves a big hole in the lineup, both offensively and defensively," Fox said after Game 2.
In the next game? Those shots he made will start falling, or at least that's what he's predicting.
"We got some good looks that we just weren't able to make, chalk it up to it," he added. "You move on."
Game 3 will tip off at 9:30 PM CST on Friday in the Moda Center. The Spurs won their only game of the season there by 13 points, also without Wembanyama. In that contest, Fox scored 37 points, his season high.