San Antonio was on the ropes early before a monster rally late earned the Spurs a 114-93 win over Portland in Victor Wembanyama's return to the court.
It was not all smooth sailing for San Antonio in Victor Wembanyama's return to action, but the Spurs caught fire late to outpace Portland 114-93 in Game 4 of their series.
San Antonio now boasts a 3-1 lead over the Trail Blazers, who are 0-15 when facing the deficit in previous series. The Spurs can clinch their first playoff series win since 2017 in front of their home crowd in Game 5.
As previously mentioned, the Spurs looked lifeless early on, even with Wemby back on the court. The first half was mired by mistakes and missed opportunities as Portland took a 17-point advantage into halftime.
Out of the break, San Antonio quickly cut the deficit to only four and went blow-for-blow with the Blazers before finally reclaiming the lead in the closing seconds of the third quarter.
However, the Spurs did not stop there. They flipped the game completely upside down in the final 12 minutes by completely dominating Portland. The Trail Blazers were outscored 40-19 in the fourth quarter and saw not only the game slip away, but potentially the entire series.
San Antonio's incredible effort was not just impressive, it was historic. The Spurs are the first time in NBA history to trail by at least 15 points at halftime and then go on to win by at least 15 points in a postseason game.
While Wembanyama was the storyline heading into the game, it was another Spur that stole the show Sunday. De'Aaron Fox led all scorers in the game with 28 points on a 11-of-17 shooting performance, including going 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Of course, Wemby was not far behind, as the superstar finished with 27 points. He made his presence known outside of scoring with 11 rebounds and seven blocks for the Defensive Player of the Year.
Following the game, Wembanyama spoke on his absence with ESPN's Malika Andrews. "The Spurs have done a great job. I'm very unhappy about the way the protocol has been handled by other parties. But my staff has been amazing. I've been really healthy starting on day one after injury. The injury was weird though, it was funny," remarked Wemby.
Safe to say, the Spurs are happy that he is back after the noticeable difference he made in his return.
Portland had solid nights from Deni Avdija and Jrue Holiday, but the Spurs locked down the rest of the Blazers lineup. Most notably, Scoot Henderson was held scoreless after dropping 52 points in the two prior matchups.
As a team, San Antonio had four scorers end in double figures and had two others just miss out with nine and eight-point afternoons. The Spurs turned in a 49 percent shooting effort from the field and went 42 percent from 3-point range, which outdid Portland by nearly 10 percent on each.
In a complete turnaround, the Spurs showcased their resiliency and have set themselves up with a chance to end the series in their next game. San Antonio returns to Frost Bank Center on April 30, with an assuredly raucous home crowd awaiting their arrival.