The Spurs lost Victor Wembanyama early in the game, and the Blazers took advantage with a series-tying victory.
The Portland Trail Blazers officially stole a road playoff game in San Antonio against the Spurs on Tuesday night, earning a tightly contested 106-103 victory in a game that went wire to wire. Neither team won any of the first three quarters by more than one point, but in the fourth, the Blazers took that frame 27-23 and ultimately came away with the three-point win.
The game featured nine ties and nine lead changes, which reflected just how back-and-forth it was from start to finish.
A huge storyline in this game was the exit of Victor Wembanyama, who hit the floor hard and had to leave after just under 12 minutes. He finished with five points and four rebounds before being ruled out and placed in concussion protocol, which is obviously a massive development not only for this game but for the series as a whole. As of now, the full severity and timeline remain unclear.
The Spurs still battled without Wembanyama and got five players into double figures. Stephon Castle led the way with 18 points, De’Aaron Fox added 17, and Devin Vassell had 16 points and 12 rebounds. San Antonio is still a very capable team even without its superstar center, but the Blazers got the better of it on Tuesday night.
Portland’s win was fueled by Scoot Henderson, who poured in 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting in what was arguably the best game of his career and one that couldn’t have come at a better time. Deni Avdija did not quite look like himself, finishing with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting while clearly appearing less than 100 percent for stretches of the night.
Jrue Holiday chipped in 16 points and nine assists, Robert Williams III had 11 points and nine rebounds, including a huge and-one dunk for Portland’s final field goal of the game, and Toumani Camara added 10 points, with six of those coming in the fourth quarter on a pair of massive threes down the stretch.
With the win, the series is now tied 1-1 heading back to Portland for Games 3 and 4. Three of the next five games would be at Moda Center only if the series goes the distance, but regardless, the Blazers have already done what they needed to do by stealing home-court advantage with a road split in San Antonio.
The main thing this result did was shift pressure. Portland proved it can hang in this series, and now the Blazers head home with momentum, a split, and a real opportunity to make this much more interesting than many expected.
Game 3 will take place on Friday night at Moda Center in Portland.