Trail Blazers rally past Spurs 106-103 to even series after Wembanyama exits with concussion
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Scoot Henderson scored 31 points and the Portland Trail Blazers took advantage of an injury to Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, rallying for a 106-103 victory over San Antonio on Tuesday night to even their Western Conference playoff series at one game apiece.
Wembanyama was diagnosed with a concussion after he tumbled face-first when he was fouled by Jrue Holiday and his jaw slammed into the floor. He did not return after the scary injury in the second quarter and entered the NBA’s concussion protocol, which raises the possibility the versatile 7-foot-4 center could miss multiple games.
The second-seeded Spurs looked like they could win without Wemby, building a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter before their offense stagnated.
Portland held San Antonio without a field goal for the final 3:37 as they closed the game on an 11-2 run. Robert Williams III converted an alley-oop dunk with 12 seconds left for a 104-101 lead after Deni Avdija muscled through the paint and fed him the ball.
Holiday had 16 points and nine assists, Avdija scored 14 and Williams finished with 11.
Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 18 points, De’Aaron Fox scored 17 and Devin Vassell had 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Game 3 is Friday at Portland.
After scoring 35 points in the Spurs’ Game 1 win, Wembanyama had five points, four rebounds, one blocked shot and one assist in 12 minutes.
Under league guidelines, a player in the concussion protocol must have at least 48 hours of inactivity and recovery and then hit several benchmarks without symptoms before being cleared to play. A player must undergo neurological testing and receive a final clearance from a team doctor in consultation with the league’s concussion protocol director.
The Spurs had won 76 straight playoff games when leading by 14 points or more in the fourth quarter. The last time they lost under those circumstances was on May 19, 2003 against Dallas.
San Antonio built that big lead with a 13-0 run to start the fourth. Backup center Luke Kornet, who replaced Wembanyama, punctuated that burst with a reverse slam for a three-point play.
Kornet finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba