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 cut 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.”
DW Russian 
