Spurs beat Trail Blazers 120-108 without Wembanyama to take 2-1 series lead

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Stephon Castle had 33 points and the San Antonio Spurs overcame the absence of Victor Wembanyama to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 120-108 on Friday night for a 2-1 series lead.

Dylan Harper added 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who trailed by 15 points in the third quarter. Game 4 of the first-round series is Sunday at the Moda Center.

Before the game Spurs coach Mitch Johnson announced that Wembanyama would not play while he continues to recover from a concussion sustained Tuesday night in Game 2.

Jrue Holiday had 29 points for the Trail Blazers. Making their first home playoff appearance since 2021, they couldn’t ultimately take advantage Wembanyama’s absence.

Portland led 82-67 in the third quarter but the Spurs clawed back with a 21-5 run to take an 88-87 lead into the final period. Castle’s step-back jumper and a pair of free throws gave the Spurs a 105-95 lead midway through the fourth and the Trail Blazers collapsed.

“I feel like we have a lot of confidence in ourselves. We know how good we are,” Castle said. “So, down 10, down 15, in a game like that, with a lot of time to go, we just need to string some stops together and keep fighting. I feel we have a lot of dogs that arent going to quit on our team.”

Wembanyama — the league’s first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year and one of three finalists for the Most Valuable Player award — went down in the second quarter of the Spurs’ 106-103 Game 2 loss in San Antonio.

Johnson would not elaborate on Wembanyama’s condition, only to say he was progressing. He averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and a league-best 3.1 blocks per game this season. His status for Sunday’s game was not known.

Luke Kornet started against the Trail Blazers as Wembanyama’s watched from the banch, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Portland went on a 15-2 run in the first half to go up 50-43 and led 65-59 at the break after Jerami Grant’s 3-pointer.

In the final moments of the half Fox was handed an offensive foul when he charged toward the basket and elbowed Deni Avdija in the face. Johnson challenged the call and it was overturned to a defensive foul on Avdija, who had a chipped a tooth but kept playing.

“This loss hurts, but we’ve got another one Sunday, so you can’t really hang your hat on it too low,” Holiday said. “Maybe take it on the chin tonight, and then tomorrow, we’ve got to get back to work.”

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