The San Antonio Spurs are close to the NBA Conference semifinals, leading the play-offs 3-1 against Portland Trail Blazers. Spurs' home advantage did not matter much: they lost their second game of the series only by three points, but the Spurs went on to batter the Trail Blazers away, including a 114-93 win in Portland on Sunday, in a triumphant return of Victor Wembanyama after his concussion last week.
The French player, one of the candidates for MVP and unanimously chosen as Defensive Player of the Year with 100% of votes, the leader of blocks for three consecutive seasons, scored 27 points and made 11 rebounds, 7 blocks and 4 steals.
However, 'Wemby' said he was very disappointed with the NBA's concussion protocol: he suffered a concussion in Game 2 of the play-offs last Tuesday, hitting his head on the court during the match the Spurs lost to Portland. The concussion protocol requires players to be removed from play for 48 hours after a big blow in the head, and Wembanyama was not cleared to play in time for Game 3. He did not agree with that: "I won't get into the details. I don't want it to become a distraction. Ask me again at the end of the season", he told. "The way the situation was handled was very disappointing", adding that he did not receive a reason as to why he had to sit out on Friday's match.
San Antonio Spurs could be one of the first teams to qualify for NBA Conference semifinals on Tuesday (local time) for Game 5 (Wednesday, April 29 at 3:30 CEST, 2:30 BST).