The San Antonio Spurs punched their ticket to the second round of the NBA playoffs yesterday, leading wire to wire in a 114-95 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Victor Wembanyama finished with 17 points, 14 rebounds and six blocked shots to help the Spurs wrap up a 4-1 win in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series.
Wembanyama was playing his second game after missing one with a concussion.
In the East, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid had 33 points and eight assists as the 76ers fended off elimination with a 113-97 victory over the Boston Celtics.
The Spurs, who clawed back from a 19-point deficit to win Game Four, burst out of the blocks and pushed their lead to as many as 28 before taking a 65-45 lead into half-time.
Portland unleashed an 11-0 run that cut a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to nine, but the Spurs responded.
De’Aaron Fox scored 13 of his 21 points in the final period and Wembanyama delivered two massive blocks as San Antonio won a playoff series for the first time since 2017.
“It did feel like we let our foot off the gas,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “NBA games are long, it’s not an excuse. That means we’ve got to be better, but zero lead changes is zero lead changes.
“We have a lot of things we can be better at,” Johnson added of his young team, who had six players score in double figures. “But we’re ready to step up to the plate and swing.”
The Spurs will face either the Denver Nuggets or Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semi-finals.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓
