Everything about the night felt like it was setting up for another San Antonio statement. The crowd was buzzing. The series leaned their way. And early on, even adversity didn\u2019t seem like it would matter.<\/p>\n
Then everything unraveled.<\/p>\n
The San Antonio Spurs watched a 14-point fourth quarter lead disappear Tuesday night, falling 106-103 to the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 2 and evening their best of seven series at 1-1. What should have been a commanding 2-0 series advantage instead turned into a painful lesson in how quickly playoff momentum can swing.<\/p>\n
The first turning point came long before the final minutes. Midway through the second quarter, Victor Wembanyama crashed to the floor on a drive and struck his chin on the hardwood, leaving the game and later entering concussion protocol. He finished with just five points in 12 minutes and his absence reshaped everything San Antonio wanted to do on both ends.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just know he has a concussion, and he\u2019s in the protocol, and we\u2019ll obviously take the proper and appropriate steps,\u201d Spurs Head Coach Mitch Johnson said after the game.<\/p>\n
Still, the Spurs didn\u2019t fold. They absorbed the blow, fought back from an early deficit, and slowly took control. Despite missing their franchise centerpiece, San Antonio leaned on its depth and defensive effort to claw its way back. A balanced scoring effort: led by De\u2019Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Devin Vassell; helped stabilize the offense, even if efficiency wasn\u2019t always there.<\/p>\n
By the fourth quarter, it looked like resilience would define the night. The Spurs opened the period with a 13-0 surge, building a double-digit lead that stretched to 14 points with under nine minutes to play. At that moment, the game, and perhaps the series, felt firmly in their control.<\/p>\n
Then came the unraveling.<\/p>\n
Portland caught fire from beyond the arc, hitting timely threes and chipping away at the deficit possession by possession. San Antonio, meanwhile, stalled. The ball stopped moving. Shots stopped falling. And in the game\u2019s most critical stretch, the Spurs failed to score a field goal over the final three minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we weren\u2019t as poised as we were in Game 1,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t as sharp to start the game tonight. We weren\u2019t on the same page or organized. We\u2019ll be better in Game 3.\u201d<\/p>\n
A late Portland run, fueled by Scoot Henderson\u2019s 31-point explosion and clutch execution down the stretch, flipped the game entirely. By the time San Antonio tried to respond, it was too late.<\/p>\n
The loss wasn\u2019t just about one run \u2014 it was about missed opportunities. Free throws left points on the board. Defensive lapses opened the door. And without Wembanyama anchoring the paint, the margin for error vanished. Even strong contributions elsewhere, including a steady effort from Luke Kornet off the bench, couldn\u2019t offset the late-game breakdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave to be more physical with him. No catch-and-shoots. No easy, off-the-dribble pull-ups,\u201d Spurs forward Devin Vassell said of Henderson. \u201cWe\u2019re going to make it a lot harder for him, because obviously, he\u2019s feeling way too comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
And beyond the scoreboard, the bigger concern lingers. Wembanyama\u2019s status moving forward now looms over the series, with concussion protocol introducing uncertainty at the worst possible time.<\/p>\n
Instead of heading to Portland with full control, the Spurs now find themselves in a fight. Game 2 was there for the taking, even without their star. But in the playoffs, letting one slip can change everything.<\/p>\n
Now, the question isn\u2019t just how San Antonio responds. It\u2019s whether they can regroup, and recover, before the series slips with it.<\/p>\n
Without Wemby in the game, Luke Kornet had another solid night off the bench. He had 10 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes.Stephon Castle had 18 points, but shot just 7-for-20 from the floor. He will need to be better in Game 3 without Wemby in the lineup if the French star misses Game 3.Despite the loss, it the game came down to the little things. San Antonio went 20-for-28 from the free throw line. Make those eight free throws and the Spurs win by five points.De\u2019Aaron Fox went 6-of-16 for 18 points. It will be interesting to see if he takes control in Game 3 or if Portland will now gameplan for that if Wembanayama is out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everything about the night felt like it was setting up for another San Antonio statement. The crowd was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83,2298],"class_list":{"0":"post-260847","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-san-antonio","9":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","10":"tag-san-antonio-news","11":"tag-spurs-game-recaps"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}