The Portland Trail Blazers sank the San Antonio Spurs 106-103 in Game 2 of their NBA Playoff series tonight in Texas. Scoot Henderson led the winners with 31 points. San Antonio got 18 from Stephon Castle, while Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama exited in the second quarter due to a head injury.
Now the underdog Blazers head back to Portland with a 1-1 record and home-court advantage.
Player of the Game
Scoot Henderson was “Sterling” tonight. He led the Blazers with 31 points on 11-17 shooting (5-9 on 3s) and seemed
to be everywhere on defense. Bottom line: He looked like he was in command of his space on the floor. But Robert Williams III can’t be overlooked. He converted a lob from Deni Avdij to put the bow on the package in the closing seconds, giving the Blazers a crucial three-point lead with 12 seconds left. The dunk topped off Williams’ stat line for the night: 11 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 steal in 23 minutes.
Stat of the Night
Believe it or not, the Blazers won the long-distance contest tonight, shooting 34% from deep with 13 makes in 38 tries. The Spurs shot 29%, finishing 7 of 24. And some of those Portland makes came with the game on the line, two by Toumani Camara and one by Scoot.
What We Noticed
Scoot Henderson came out of the gate in this game like he was the one wearing spurs. He scored 13 points on 3 of 3 shooting from the three-point line to get the Blazers off to a great start, but Stephon Castle warmed up with 10 points late in the quarter to get the Spurs to a 28-27 lead at the first break.
At 8:57 in the second quarter, Victor Wembenyama went sprawling to the floor chin-first while trying to get around the defense of Jrue Holiday. He went to the locker room and did not return due to the concussion protocol. Both teams traded haymakers the rest of the way to forge a 57-57 tie at halftime, Scoot leading the way for the Blazers with 19 and Castle on top for the Spurs with 12.
Scoot added 7 points in the third but the Spurs were in front 80-79 at the end of the quarter. The difference in the game to that point was bench scoring, which favored the Spurs 29-19. The scene was set for what announcer Reggie Miller described as “an epic finish,” and that’s what followed.
After falling behind by as many as 14 in the fourth quarter and then trailing 99-90 with 5:00 remaining, the Blazers ripped of a 12-2 run to seize the lead at 102-101 with just over two minutes left. Then they held on in crunch time to head back home with a crucial series split.
Up Next
The Blazers are heading home for their Friday showdown with the Spurs in Game 3 of the NBA Playoffs. Game time is 7:30 p.m. PDT.
