Victor Wembanyama’s 17 Points, 14 Rebounds and Six Blocks Send San Antonio Spurs to Western Conference Semi-Finals for First Time Since 2017

San Antonio Spurs are through to the Western Conference semi-finals for the first time in nine years after dismantling the Portland Trail Blazers 114-95 in Game Five on Tuesday night, with Victor Wembanyama producing a commanding display of 17 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks.

The result was never seriously in doubt. San Antonio established control early, racing to a 17-4 opening run built on eight points and two three-pointers from Julian Champagnie, and they never relinquished the lead throughout the contest. Their advantage swelled to as many as 28 points before Portland mounted a brief challenge.

De’Aaron Fox contributed 21 points, Champagnie finished with 19 — shooting five-from-seven from beyond the arc — and Dylan Harper added 17 as the Spurs closed out the series with their third consecutive victory. San Antonio shot 40 per cent from three-point range as a team, in stark contrast to Portland’s 23 per cent from distance.

Portland did threaten a comeback with eight minutes remaining, pulling the deficit back to 91-82 following an 11-0 run. However, the Spurs held firm, and Wembanyama emphatically underlined his defensive authority in the closing stages by swatting Deni Avdija’s floater off the top of the backboard and into the crowd. Avdija top-scored for the Trail Blazers with 22 points but shot just one-for-six from three-point range, while Portland guard Scoot Henderson managed only five points — limited after a physical altercation with Harper in the final minute of the third quarter during Game Three on Saturday, when he had been restricted to 10 points in San Antonio’s 120-108 win.

Portland head coach Tiago Splitter spoke candidly about the challenge Wembanyama poses for opposing offences. “It’s extremely difficult,” Splitter said. “You’ve got to do a lot of tricks and try to set back screens and seals and spin actions. It’s not easy because he can contest the 3 and the rim at the same time, basically. He’s going to create a lot of problems for a lot of teams for a long time.”

The motivation behind San Antonio’s dominant start was made clear by Champagnie after the game. “We didn’t want to go back to Portland,” he said. “That was kind of the emphasis for the guys on the team. We just didn’t want to fly back to Portland. It’s a four-hour flight. So being up 3-1 and playing at home, it’s a good chance to close it out and not go back. So, that was all of the motivation we needed tonight.”

Wembanyama reflected on the performance with measured satisfaction. “It’s never perfect, of course, but that’s exactly what we said we wanted to do before the game,” he said.

Coach Mitch Johnson had stressed before tip-off that the Spurs could not afford a repeat of the double-digit early deficits they had surrendered in Games Three and Four. His players responded accordingly.

The Spurs’ return to the second round carries historical weight. Their last appearance at this stage came in 2017, when they defeated the Houston Rockets in the first round before Kawhi Leonard suffered a serious ankle injury during the Western Conference Finals, ultimately contributing to a sweep at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. Leonard’s subsequent trade out of San Antonio triggered a prolonged rebuild that bottomed out sufficiently to deliver the first overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft — Wembanyama himself.

According to the Sky Sports report, Wembanyama has also been named as one of three finalists for the NBA MVP award alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic. The second-seeded Spurs will now await the outcome of the series between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves, with the Timberwolves leading 3-2 and Game Six scheduled for Thursday.