Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Victorious return for Victor Wembanyama: the French star turned the page on the concussion protocol and helped the San Antonio Spurs take a 3-1 lead in the series against the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
First modification: 04/27/2026 - 01:11Last modification: 04/27/2026 - 04:52
The Texans won 114-93 this Sunday in rival territory and on Tuesday they can seal their qualification to the semifinals of the Western Conference of the North American basketball league.
Wemby returned on a high after leaving abruptly during the second game due to a violent hit of his head against the floor of the court, which made him enter the concussion protocol.
He then missed Game 3 on Friday before making an outstanding return on Sunday with 27 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 7 blocks.
"It was special, I had a lot of emotions inside me, desire, frustration," he told the ESPN channel.
"The Spurs did a great job, but I am not satisfied with the way the protocol was managed by other parties involved," he added. "I was healthy the day after the injury. It was weird."
The NBA protocol imposes 48 hours of rest before a progressive resumption of activity, daily testing and, subsequently, a medical green light shared by the franchise and the league.
shine again
A little imprecise at the beginning of the match, like his team, the 22-year-old Frenchman ended up rediscovering his usual dominance on both sides of the court.
Trailing 58-41 at halftime, the Spurs put up a magnificent second half (73-35) to come back at the end of the third quarter and then take off.
Wemby notably scored three dunks to start the final quarter, always assisted by his partner Stephon Castle (16 points, 8 assists), elected rookie of the year in 2025.
Point guard De'Aaron Fox, meanwhile, finally entered the playoffs (28 points, 7 assists) for the benefit of the Spurs, who offered very intense defensive sequences to limit Deni Avdija (26 points, 7 rebounds).
Avdija was ejected for a sixth foul and looked very frustrated at the end of the game at Portland's Moda Center.
Even series
Earlier, the Toronto Raptors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers at home 93-89 and tied the series, which is played in the best of seven games, at 2-2.
The close match was characterized by the great lack of success of both teams, which at no time were separated by more than nine points.
James Harden's Cavs (20 points) had an eight-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but failed at the end of the game against Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes, authors of 23 points each.
"We wanted it so badly," Barnes, who also added nine rebounds and six assists, told ESPN. "We are hungry. We are fighting."
The Raptors overcame a disastrous three-point shooting performance (4 of 30, 13% accuracy) to tie the series before Game 5, which will be played on Wednesday in Cleveland, Ohio.
The home team has won every game so far.
Celtics crush Sixers
The Boston Celtics crushed the 76ers 128-96 in Philadelphia and took a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference series, now they have the opportunity to finish it at home this Tuesday.
Payton Pritchard scored 32 points off the bench, and Jayson Tatum had 30 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists for the Celtics, who led by 16 points after the first quarter and maintained a double-digit lead for the rest of the game.
Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 26 points and 10 rebounds in his first game since undergoing an emergency appendectomy on April 9.
Tyrese Maxey contributed 22 points, but the 76ers could not counteract the Celtics' barrage of 24 three-pointers.
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