Spurs

Castle’s 21 points and Wembanyama’s 19 helped Spurs crush T’wolves 133-95 as Knicks take 2-0 lead over 76ers.

Victor Wembanyama scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as ‌hosts San Antonio Spurs dominated the final three quarters on the way to a 133-95 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, levelling the teams’ Western ⁠Conference semifinal series at one win apiece.

San Antonio swamped the sixth-seeded Timberwolves in the ⁠second quarter, turning a seven-point lead after the opening period into a 24-point advantage at halftime on Wednesday.

The Spurs expanded the margin to 98-63 after three periods as Julian Champagnie poured in all 12 of his points on the night via four 3-pointers in the frame.

From there, San Antonio ⁠cruised to the finish, building their lead to as many as 47 points.

Stephon Castle’s 21 points led the Spurs, with De’Aaron Fox scoring 16, Harrison Barnes tallying 12, Dylan Harper adding 11, Devin Vassell hitting for 10 points and Keldon Johnson pulling down 10 rebounds. Wembanyama canned two 3-pointers but is just 2 of 15 from behind the arc for the series.

Second-seeded San Antonio have not lost back-to-back contests since January 11 at Minnesota and January 13 at Oklahoma City, a stretch of 49 games.

Wembanyama said of the difference between Game 1 to Game 2, “We had intensity early ‌on. Crashing the offensive boards early, fighting for the ball and passing to the open man.

“Of course, we’re gonna keep doubling up on what worked and the few things that didn’t. We’re gonna erase them. [Minnesota] is an experienced team – we know they’re going to respond. … I love how everyone had everybody’s back. It looked like a system that worked.”

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Friday in Minneapolis.

Knicks take 2-0 lead over 76ers

Meanwhile, Jalen Brunson scored eight of his 26 points in ‌the fourth quarter for the New York Knicks, who took control of their Eastern Conference semifinal by ⁠stopping the Philadelphia 76ers down ⁠the stretch to earn a 108-102 win in Game 2.

The Knicks lead the best-of-seven set series 2-0. Game 3 is scheduled for Friday night in Philadelphia.

“Being down 2-0 after coming back to win in the ⁠first round, I think it’s more of a challenge,” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “It was 1-1 after two games [against the Boston Celtics in the first round], right? So it’s 2-0. Puts a lot on this next game for sure, but that’s OK.”

Karl-Anthony Towns ⁠produced 20 points and 10 rebounds despite playing just 27 minutes due to foul trouble for the Knicks, who ended the game on a 12-3 run to close out a contest that included 14 ties and 25 lead changes.

OG Anunoby, who exited the game with 2:31 left after hobbling off with a right leg injury, had 24 points while Mikal Bridges added 18 points as New York ‌won its fifth straight game overall. The Knicks’ average victory margin in the previous four games was 33.8 points.

“He looked like he was hopping,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said of Anunoby. “I have not talked to medical yet.”

Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points for the 76ers, who managed just 12 points on 4-of-19 shooting in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia took its final lead at 99-96 on Kelly Oubre Jr’s 3-pointer with 6:52 left, after which the Sixers hit 1 of 10 from the field with two turnovers.

“At the end of the day, it came down ⁠to who was going to get more stops in that fourth quarter,” Brown said. “To hold a ⁠team like that to 12 points – and they missed some shots, we know that – to have them only score 12 points in that fourth quarter, it’s huge.”

Oubre and Paul George each finished with 19 points. VJ Edgecombe had 17 points.

The 76ers Joel Embiid missed the game due to ankle and hip injuries.

Philadelphia host Game 3 and 4 on Saturday and Sunday.

While Nottingham Forest struck the first blow of the weekend on Friday, Tottenham and West Ham – unusually – both play at the same time on Saturday.

The Hammers host Everton and former manager David Moyes, with Spurs visiting already relegated Wolves.

Tottenham boss De Zerbi, whose side conceded a last-minute equaliser to draw 2-2 with Brighton in their previous fixture, said “a win can change this part of the season”.

“We are suffering, they are suffering because it is not easy to play in Tottenham in this condition of the table, but I said they have to be stronger,” he added.

“We have to live every part of the day waiting for a win and preparing for a win.”

Tottenham and West Ham have to contend with similar run-ins, with Spurs arguably facing the slightly easier of the two. The average position of the teams they still have to play is 11th, while for the Hammers it is 10th.

What West Ham do have which Tottenham do not, however, is some semblance of form.

Nuno’s team have won two and lost just one of their past five matches. Spurs have not won since last year.

“The players are improving their levels and the standards,” said Nuno. “We have been solid in defence, good in attack… sometimes not so good. Finding that balance in the remaining matches is going to be crucial for us.”

Towering superstar Victor Wembanyama toppled onto his face Tuesday night — timberrr!!! — and the NBA playoff scenario immediately became as scrambled as the San Antonio Spurs’ 7-foot-4 center’s thoughts must have been moments after he suffered a concussion.

Without Wembanyama for nearly three quarters, the Spurs fell to the underdog Portland Trail Blazers, 106-103, with the first-round series tied 1-1 and headed to Portland for Game 3 on Friday.

Meanwhile, without superstar guard Luka Doncic, the Lakers powered past the Houston Rockets, 101-94, to take a 2-0 series lead. Guard tandem Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard combined with the ageless LeBron James to make up for the absence of injuries to Doncic as well as fellow starting guard Austin Reaves.

Peering forward, an extended absence by Wembanyama would seem to place the Spurs in serious jeopardy of a first-round exit. After all, “Wemby” is the league’s defensive player of the year in addition to averaging 25 points and 11.5 rebounds a game. He is a two-way force of unprecedented magnitude.

Meanwhile, the Lakers have responded to the loss of Doncic so well that Times columnist Bill Plaschke declared “believe it, this series is already over” after their Game 2 victory Tuesday night. The absence of Doncic and his 33.3 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds a game was masked by the exceptional play of teammates.

Does that make Wembanyana more valuable than Doncic? Does it raise Wembanyana’s NBA Most Valuable Player credentials to the level of fellow finalists Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic?

That’s a topic worth debating on another day. For now, the pertinent questions are how severely Wembanyana is injured and how long will he be sidelined. The Spurs and Trail Blazers play Game 3 on Friday night, Game 4 on Sunday and Game 5 on Tuesday night. The median time lost to concussion in the NBA is seven days.

“He has a concussion and he is in the protocol,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said afterward. “We’ll obviously take the proper and appropriate steps.”

A player in concussion protocol must have at least 48 hours of inactivity and undergo neurological testing while meeting certain criteria without symptoms before being cleared to play. A decision on clearance will come from the NBA concussion protocol director Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher in consultation with the Spurs’ team doctor.

The injury occurred early in the second quarter. After backing into the paint with the ball, Wembanyama turned to explode toward the basket. Portland defender Jrue Holiday executed a maneuver termed “pulling the chair” — moving completely away from the Spurs center, who clearly was expecting contact.

Wembanyama lurched forward, toppled and slammed the right side of his face on the floor. He stayed down for several seconds before sitting up and putting his hands on his face. Television analyst Reggie Miller exclaimed, “He is dazed.” Wembanyama finally stood and jogged directly to the locker room. He did not return.

Meanwhile at Crypto.com Arena, Doncic and Reaves cheered from the bench throughout the Lakers’ inspired dismantling of the Rockets. Smart scored 25 points and Kennard added 23.

“I know we just kind of flipped the switch,” Kennard said. “We told each other, this is what we got right now. We’ve got to believe in what we have.”

Added Smart: “The word is, ‘elevate’ for us, and that’s all we’ve been trying to do, is elevate our play on both ends.”

Wembanyana’s backup is Luke Kornet, who has played for six teams since going undrafted out of Vanderbilt in 2017. He was effective during a 14-minute stint in the Spurs’ Game 1 victory over Portland and had 10 points and nine rebounds in Game 2 after Wembanyana exited. He’ll need to step up the way Smart and Kennard have for the Lakers.

Injuries are inevitable. How teammates respond when a superstar is sidelined provides insight on multiple levels. So far, the loss of Doncic — and Reaves — has been overcome by the Lakers while the loss of Wembanyama could cripple the Spurs.

Victor Wembanyama starred on his NBA play-off debut as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers 111-98.

Wembanyama, one of three contenders for the Most Valuable Player award, scored a game-high 35 points, including 21 in the first half, as the Spurs won game one of the best-of-seven series.

“It’s good to get this one out of the way,” the Frenchman said. “We just tried to do the things we’ve been doing all year and stay solid.

“There was pressure on us to win the first game, but it wasn’t that much pressure if we just stayed to the plan.”

Elsewhere, defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder and the Boston Celtics both made dominant starts to the post-season.

The Thunder – the number one seeds in the Western Conference – thrashed the Phoenix Suns 119-84, led by last year’s Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who had 25 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Jayson Tatum scored 25 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists – and Jaylen Brown added 26 points – as the second-seeded Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-91.

Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic stunned Eastern Conference top seeds Detroit Pistons 112-101 to take a 1-0 lead in their seven-game series.

Victory for the eighth-seeded Magic, who qualified for the play-offs via the play-in tournament, extends an unwelcome NBA record for the Pistons, who have not won a post-season game at home for 11 matches dating back to 2008.

Forward Paolo Banchero starred with 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists, to help the Magic overshadow Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham’s play-off best haul of 39 points.

“[We] didn’t come out with the right energy, gave them life early on,” said Cunningham. “Then we had to deal with that for the rest of the game.

“There’s no confidence drop from us. It’s going to be a long, fun series.”

Victor Wembanyama set a new San Antonio record for the most points in an NBA playoff debut as the Spurs outlast Portland.

Victor Wembanyama scored 35 points in his postseason debut as ‌the host San Antonio Spurs used a fourth quarter run to create separation in a 111-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday in Game ⁠1 of their Western Conference first-round ⁠playoff series.

The Spurs took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 2 on Tuesday in the Alamo City before switching to Portland for Games 3 and 4.

Wembanyama broke Tim Duncan’s franchise record (32 in 1998) for most points in a playoff debut. He led ⁠all first-half scorers with 21 points – a league record for most in the first half of an NBA playoff debut going back to 1997, the start of the play-by-play era.

“It’s good to get this one out of the way,” Wembanyama said. “We just tried to do the things we’ve been doing all year and stay ⁠solid. There was pressure on us to win the first game, but it wasn’t that much pressure if we just stayed to the plan.”

San Antonio, the second seed in the West, led by 10 at halftime and by 15 after three quarters before all but cementing the win by scoring the first six points of the fourth quarter to go up 93-72.

The seventh-seeded Trail Blazers clawed their way back to within 11 via a 13-3 run capped by Deni Avdija’s dunk with 4:27 to play, ‌but San Antonio held strong down the stretch.

“Something that we learned is that every possession matters,” Scoot Henderson said. “Next game I think we are all gonna be more aggressive defensively. I feel like I could be more aggressive. Defensively I think there could be something more in the tank.”

Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox added 17 points apiece for the Spurs, with Devin Vassell scoring 15 and Luke Kornet hitting for 10.

Avdija racked up 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Trail Blazers. Henderson scored 18, Robert Williams III had 11, Shaedon Sharpe hit for 10 and Jrue Holiday distributed 11 assists along with nine points.

The Spurs jumped to the front in the game’s early moments, building a nine- point lead on Fox’s stepback 3-pointer at the 2:35 mark ⁠of the first quarter and jumping out to a 30-21 advantage after 12 minutes of play.

San Antonio stoked the margin ⁠to 50-34 when Kornet threw down an alley-oop dunk from Castle with 5:24 to play in the second quarter. Avdija’s three-point play with 2:28 left culled the deficit to seven points before Wembanyama poured in a layup and then a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to a dozen points. The Spurs led 59-49 at the break.

“(Wembanyama) has lofty expectations and goals ⁠for himself, and being in the playoffs is squarely a part of a lot of that,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “So it’s good to get the first one and kind of get that experience under your belt.”

Avdija paced the Trail ⁠Blazers with 19 points over the opening two periods.

The Trail Blazers reeled off the first eight ⁠points of the third quarter and had four chances to tie the game or go in front but committed three turnovers and missed a shot over that stretch.

“It’s hard to say,” said Portland coach Tiago Splitter when asked if the team’s lack of playoff experience played a role in the loss. “It’s the first time we’ve played against Wemby this season so there’s a lot to learn. It wasn’t our ‌best night. It’s really hard to take him out of the paint. Those five threes really hurt us.”

San Antonio regained its stride and built the lead to a game-high 17 points on Julian Champagnie’s 3-pointer with 53 seconds to play in the period before settling for an 87-72 lead heading into the final ‌12 ‌minutes.

“Our first timeout, in the first quarter, I think it took everybody a minute to kind of settle in,” Vassell said. “Even in the second half, it took a minute when (Portland) went on a run. Basketball is a game of runs, so if we can withstand that, get some stops and start getting some good looks we knew we’d be all right.”

Nikola Jokic outshone fellow Most Valuable Player contender Victor Wembanyama with a game-high 40 points as the Denver Nuggets ended the San Antonio Spurs’ 11-match winning streak.

Serb Jokic, a three-time winner of the NBA’s MVP award, starred as Denver recorded their eighth straight win with a 136-134 triumph in overtime.

Wembanyama led San Antonio with 34 points but the Frenchman’s team squandered a 107-96 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Both players are among the leading names to claim this season’s coveted individual award, given to the best performer during the regular season, and were full of praise for the other after the match.

Jokic said of Wembanyama to ESPN: “I think the first time I played against him, I told you guys he’s going to change the league. He’s going to change basketball.

“I still think that. And I think he has an opportunity, a chance to be the most unique basketball player to ever play the game.”

Reflecting on defeat, Wembanyama said: “I think it was an amazing game. One of the most fun games. I wish we could have closed it out.

“It was a real test against a team that’s playing for something right now. They’ve got the best offensive player in the world.”

Both teams have already clinched a place in the post-season play-offs, which begin on 18 April.

But while San Antonio are assured of a top-two seeding in the Western Conference – they trail reigning champions Oklahoma City Thunder – Denver’s final placing within the top six is still to be decided.

The Thunder can move closer to a third straight Western Conference title against the Utah Jazz on Sunday, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seeks back-to-back MVP crowns.

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic could be out of MVP contention after the NBA’s leading scorer was ruled out for the rest of the regular season with a hamstring injury on Friday.

Victor Wembanyama had 21 points and 13 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs overcame an early 14-point deficit before blowing most of a 24-point lead and recovering to hold off the Clippers 119-115 on Monday night at Intuit Dome.

Stephon Castle had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to lead the Spurs (50-18), who reached 50 wins for the first time since 2016-17 and trail the first-place Thunder by three games in the West. Devin Vassell added 20 points.

Fighting to secure a spot for the play-in tournament, the Clippers’ second straight loss dropped them back to .500 with Kawhi Leonard watching from the bench. The NBA’s sixth-leading scorer sat out with a sprained left knee.

Darius Garland drives to the basket against De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs in the second half.

(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)

Darius Garland led six Clippers in double figures with 25 points and 10 assists. Jordan Miller had 22 points off the bench, which outscored the Spurs’ reserves 57-30.

After the Spurs ran off seven in a row to lead 115-102, Garland scored seven of the Clippers’ nine points to get within four with 38 seconds remaining. But the Spurs made four straight free throws to preserve the win.

The Spurs led by 24 points in the third before the Clippers closed with a 16-3 run to trail by 10 going into the fourth.

The Spurs started slowly, missing eight of their first nine shots, while the Clippers surged to a 17-3 lead. They shot 65% from the floor in the opening quarter, hit five of seven three-pointers and made 10 of 12 free throws.

San Antonio turned things around in the second. The Spurs erased all of their 14-point deficit, helped by 15 straight points over the end of the first and start of the second. In the period, they outscored the Clippers 37-15 to lead 66-52 at halftime.