Victor Wembanyama is back in full force as the San Antonio Spurs head home looking to finish off the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday in Game 5 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series.
The Spurs claimed a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series Sunday with a 114-97 come-from-behind win in Portland. If the Trail Blazers win Tuesday, they can force Game 6 in Portland on Thursday.
De’Aaron Fox scored 28 points in Sunday’s win and Victor Wembanyama had 27 in his return from a concussion. He sat out the second half of Game 2 and all of Game 3 due to concussion protocol. Wembanyama also had 11 rebounds, seven blocks and four steals in Sunday’s victory.
Stephon Castle scored 16 points for the Spurs. He’s dealing with an injured left hand and was in foul trouble in Game 4, when Devin Vassell added 11 points. San Antonio trailed by 19 points following a ragged second quarter but dominated after halftime, outscoring Portland 73-35.
“We need to find the answers, you know, before having our back against the wall,” Wembanyama said. “But that also shows the strength of our team. In adversity, we stick together, we get closer to each other. We feed off of each other’s energy. There’s no useless drama between us. You know, we thrive when we do the invisible efforts that benefit others. There’s no jealousy. There’s no nobody cares about their stat line, so it’s our greatest strength.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson has witnessed a maturation process with his young team that became more evident with the road playoff win. The next step might prove most difficult — closing out the No. 7 Blazers.
“This gives you a lot of takeaways,” he explained. “A lot of feedback on things you got to be better on and improve upon, and try to not put yourself in a position when you got to dig yourself out of a hole. We have to continue to balance that attack mentality, starting off games while still anchoring to our fundamentals and discipline of game plan, execution.”
Deni Avdija had 26 points in Game 4 to rebound from his poor shooting in the previous two games. Avdija was 8-of-31 shooting combined in Games 2 and 3. The Blazers will need him on his game along with Scoot Henderson, who had a season-high 31 points in the Trail Blazers’ Game 2 win in San Antonio but missed all seven of his shot attempts Sunday.
A hot start could do wonders for Portland’s confidence Tuesday following abysmal second-half showings in Portland.
“We knew they were going to come out and be more aggressive,” Avdija said. “We expected it. I just think coming out the half, we didn’t make shots, and they went on a run. Suddenly, you look up at the scoreboard, and it’s a closer game.”
Portland coach Tiago Splitter said his team would go back to work to try to find a solution and extend the series.
“I think the guys fought hard,” Splitter said. ” In the second half, we mentally kind of like broke down, couldn’t get over the fact that we were up, and then they just came back to the game. Didn’t shoot the ball well, turned over the ball.
“We’ve got to hold our composure and be more present. I tried to, you know, slow down a little bit but couldn’t find a solution. It’s all of us, coaches, players we all got to be better. We got to win every game that we have in front of us, and we’re going to fight one by one.”
