Spurs' De'Aaron Fox is on one of the best runs of his career with an electric performance in Game 5 to clinch the first round series.
The San Antonio Spurs clinched their first playoff series win since 2017, largely thanks to De'Aaron Fox, whose fourth quarter takeover showed off his closing ability. With a strong supporting performance by his teammates both in shooting and on defense, the Spurs were simply too much for the Portland Trailblazers to handle, defeating them 114-95 in Game 5. Fox dropped a team-leading 21 points against the Trailblazers, and 13 of those points came in the fourth quarter alone.
Fox also had nine assists and was 8-of-14 shooting. He scored or assisted on 42 points, as his teammates shot 9-of-12 off his passes. Fox solidified the victory when he subbed in with 6:17 remaining and proceeded to go on a nine-point closing run to push the lead to 13. He was helped by a strong supporting cast, as San Antonio forward Julian Champagnie got things off to a fast start going 5-of-7 on first half shooting and 4-of-5 from the three.
Victor Wembanyama blocked six shots in Game 5, totaling 16 blocks in the series while Portland shot 19 percent when he contested, joining Brook Lopez and Alonzo Mourning as the third player to average 20 points and four blocks through his first four playoff games.
Here is the full story from Spurs Roundtable writer Nathan Karseno on San Antonio’s first advancement in nearly over a decade as one of the frontrunners in the postseason.
As Stephon Castle put it postgame, it was “probably [our] most professional game of that series.” His lockdown defense held Portland to a mere 4-of-13 from the field and 2-of-10 from the three.
But Fox was the man of the night, following up a performance in Game 4 that led to a historic comeback with a game-high 28 points. San Antonio became the first team in the postseason to trail by 15 or more at half and win by 15-plus points. The former NBA Clutch Player of the Year showed off precisely why he won those honors. The Spurs will now turn their sights to the winner of the Denver Nuggets-Minnesota Timberwolves series, with the Timberwolves leading 3-2.