Wemby’s return sparks Spurs past Blazers, 114-93
San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Portland Trail Blazers, in Portland, Ore., Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 27 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks in his return from a concussion and the San Antonio Spurs took a 3-1 lead in their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers with a 114-93 victory on Sunday. De’Aaron Fox added 28 points for the Spurs, who will return home for Game 5 on Tuesday night. The Spurs announced about an hour before the game that Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 Defensive Player of the Year, would play after clearing the league’s concussion protocol. After the game, he indicated that the way his return to play was handled was “very disappointing” but emphasized that he was treated well by the Spurs’ medical staff. He would not elaborate, saying he did not want to be a distraction. The Spurs trailed the Blazers by 17 points at the half, but the game was knotted at 74 going into the fourth quarter. Fox and Keldon Johnson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Spurs up 90-77 with 7:14 left. Johnson’s dunk with 4:31 remaining made it 101-81 for San Antonio and all but sealed the win. “We need to find the answers before having our back against the wall,” Wembanyama said about the second-half comeback. “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.” Deni Avdija led the Trail Blazers with 26 points. There was tense moment with 2:13 left when Avdija and Stephon Castle exchanged shoves. They were given offsetting technical fouls. “You can be tough, you can be, you know, physical, but there’s a level of disrespect that I’m not gonna accept,” Avdija said about the dustup. Wembanyama sustained a concussion in the first half of San Antonio’s 106-103 loss on Tuesday and was unavailable Friday night for Game 3. But the Spurs rallied in the third quarter and won 120-108 to take the series lead. Wembanyama, who was listed as questionable going into Sunday’s game, started and drew gasps from the crowd at the Moda Center with an emphatic dunk with 9:58 to go in the first half. Portland went ahead 45-28 in the first half on an 18-3 run. Robert Williams III dunked before a pair of quick 3-pointers from Jerami Grant and Scoot Henderson. Avdija capped the run with a fadeaway jumper. The Blazers led by as many as 19 in the half and were ahead 58-41 at the break. Stephon Castle, who had 33 points in San Antonio’s Game 3 win, appeared to injure his left hand in the first half but returned. The Spurs went on a 13-0 run to open the second half and closed the gap to 58-54 as the Blazers went cold. Devin Vassell’s jumper with 4:38 tied it at 62 for the Spurs. He hit another to put San Antonio in front. “I think there’s no useless drama in between us,” Wembanyama said. “We thrive when we do the invisible efforts that benefit others. There’s no jealousy. There’s nobody who cares about their stat line. So it’s our greatest strength.” CELTICS 128, 76ERS 96 PHILADELPHIA (AP) –Payton Pritchard hit six of Boston’s 24 3-pointers and scored 32 points and Jayson Tatum had 30 points and 11 assists to help Boston spoil Joel Embiid’s return from an appendectomy and beat Philadelphia for a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Boston. Jaylen Brown scored 20 points for the Celtics, who thumped the Sixers by 20-plus points for the second time in the series. Embiid scored 26 points in 34 minutes just 17 days after having an appendectomy. Embiid wasted little time scoring in his first game since April 6. The two-time NBA scoring champion sank two free throws for the Sixers’ first points of the game, added a monster two-handed jam and scored the team’s first eight points. Tyrese Maxey scored 22 points for the Sixers. ROCKETS 115, LAKERS 96 HOUSTON (AP) — Amen Thompson scored 23 points, Tari Eason added 20 and Houston avoided elimination with a rout of Los Angeles in Game 4 of the Western Conference playoff series. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Los Angeles. The Rockets got their first win in the series after falling into an 0-3 hole despite missing Kevin Durant for a third game thanks to a balanced scoring attack. Durant sat out a second straight game with a sprained left ankle after missing Game 1 with a bruised right knee. Houston’s entire starting lineup scored at least 16 points with Alperen Sengun adding 19, Reed Sheppard 17 and Jabari Smith Jr. 16. The Lakers were led by Deandre Ayton, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds before being ejected with about 5½ minutes left in the third quarter for a flagrant foul 2 on a hit to Sengun’s head. His output wasn’t nearly enough to allow the Lakers to close the series out on a night when LeBron James didn’t have his best game. He had 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting with nine assists and eight turnovers before sitting with about 7½ minutes to go after scoring 19, 28 and 29 points in the first three games. But he wasn’t the only Laker who struggled. Los Angeles made just five 3-pointers after combining for 35 through the first three games.