The San Antonio Spurs found themselves down by over 15 points for the second consecutive game. Much like they did in Game Three, the Spurs exploded in the second half, outscoring the Trail Blazers 73-35 after halftime to win Game Four 114-93. It was the largest playoff win by a team trailing by 15+ at halftime.
San Antonio was propelled by its All-Stars, De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama. Fox led all scorers with 28 points on an efficient 11-17 shooting from the field, while adding in 6 rebounds,
7 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Wembanyama was a major difference maker on the defensive end, keeping Portland from getting good looks in the paint. In his first game back after clearing concussion protocol, Wembanyama had 27 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals, and 7 blocks.
Portland made things tough in the first half, especially in the second quarter, when they shot 58% to build a 19-point lead. Deni Advija led the Trail Blazers with 26 points on 8-14 shooting.
The Spurs have taken a 3-1 lead in the series. They’ll head back to San Antonio for Game Five on Tuesday, where they will look to advance to the Western Conference Semi-Finals.
Observations
- Mitch Johnson should get a lot of credit for the Spurs’ turnaround. He used familiar lineups and strategies in the second half to pull ahead. He encouraged the team to pick up the pace offensively, which led to easy baskets while the Blazers struggled to get back. He relied on his guards and veteran experience to bring the team back. Harrison Barnes played more, Carter Bryant sat, and used Luke Kornet only in brief stints to give Wembanyama a short break.
- Stephon Castle picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter. Johnson trusted him to play in foul trouble, and the gamble worked out. Castle was everywhere in the third quarter and made a big impact in his second-half minutes. He didn’t collect his 5th and final foul until the fourth quarter. Castle had 16 points and 8 assists in the win.
- Wembanyama’s defense was huge in the second half. San Antonio outscored Portland 52-38 on Sunday. When they couldn’t get clean looks inside, they were forced to shoot contested threes. The Trail Blazers shot 10-31 (32%) from three.
- The Spurs won the turnover battle, 18-13. They scored 29 points off turnovers, while Portland scored 18.
- The Blazers battle back at the end of the fourth quarter, cutting a 20-point lead down to 12 points late. That run was ignited by some disruptive play by former Spur Sidy Cissoko.
- The game was effectively over when Castle got a technical foul for putting the ball in Avdija’s chest after an and-1 layup. Those two have been physically competing all series long. That felt like a boiling-over point from Castle. It was probably an immature moment from the second-year man, but hey, those are the emotions of playoff basketball.
- Scoot Henderson went scoreless on 0-7 shooting in his 27 minutes. Henderson has been a major difference maker in the first three games, but had a tough one on Sunday.
- There were Go Spurs Go chants echoing in the Moda Center in the final minutes of the game.
