Well, here we are again. The last What We Learned I did was in the Spurs’ third-to-last game of the regular season, when they hosted none other than the Portland Trail Blazers: a game they won despite no Victor Wembanyama or Stephon Castle in large part thanks to De’Aaron Fox. It turned into more of an appreciation post than anything, and now, a few weeks later, here we are again, praising Fox for doing what he does best: taking over in the fourth quarter to help the Spurs close out the series against
that same stubborn Trail Blazers team.
After two wins in Portland in which the Spurs had to come back from large double-digit deficits, they came out in the first half of Game 5 hoping to leave little doubt and surged out to 28-point lead behind one of the most beautiful halves of basketball we’ve seen from this team. But then, as has been the case this entire series, it was a tale of two halves, and the second half was the polar opposite of the first when the refs took over and started calling everything. The pace and ball movement came to a screeching halt (the first half took 57 minutes, the second 1 hour, 22 min — hat tip to Jesus Gomez), the Spurs lost all focus and momentum, and after a slow third quarter for both teams, Portland found their one offensive surge of the game, getting within 9 points early in the fourth quarter because that’s just the nature of today’s NBA.
That’s when Fox came to the rescue, methodically finding the holes in the Blazers’ defense, hitting timely shot after timely shot to prevent them from getting any closer before the Spurs eventually pulled back away for the 114-95 win.
He led all scorers with 21 points and 9 assists (to just 2 turnovers) and once again showed why the Spurs signed him: not to be their number one option 24-7, but to step up when the team needs a bucket and veteran presence, and he did just that last night not just to hand the Spurs their first series victory since 2017, but the first of his career as well.
That being said, it was a full team effort, with six players scoring in double digits, including all five starters plus Dylan Harper off the bench. A big reason why the Spurs got going early was for arguably the first time this series, they found Julian Champagnie early and often. He finished with 19 points on 5-7 from three — four of which came in the first quarter, plus another big one in the clutch — and 7 rebounds.
While the team effort meant Victor Wembanyama didn’t have to overexert himself on offense — he only took 7 shots in the entire game but still finished with 17 points — it also meant he was all in on the defensive side with 14 rebounds and 6 blocks.
His 13 blocks over the last two games are tied for the 5th most over the final two games of a series since 1973-74.
Before the game, Keldon Johnson was presented with the Sixth Man of the Year trophy, and in a heartfelt moment, after celebrating with his team, he asked the Spurs’ other winner, Manu Ginobili, to join him on the court.
While this series ultimately wasn’t the best match-up for him, he was still the emotional leader and had a few of big buckets during the first half run that helped the Spurs get far enough ahead to stay there, was well as this beautiful assist to Harper. Who had a KJ-to-Harper lob on their bingo card?
Finally, here are the full game highlights.
It feels so good to be talking about a winning Spurs team again, and getting the first series win for this squad against a tough, physical Blazers team that put them through every possible scenario — from physical defense, to overcoming hot stretches and having to make big comebacks — was the perfect first test and will allow for plenty of teaching moments to work on as they wait for the next opponent. A tough opening round has always been a staple of Spurs’ championship runs, so congratulations to them on passing the first step. Go Spurs Go!
