The Spurs walked out of Moda Center with a 125-103 win Saturday night, and by the time the fourth quarter arrived, the game had already slipped well out of Portland’s hands. San Antonio handed the Trail Blazers their second straight loss, dropped Portland to 1-2 at home and gave the Blazers their first back-to-back setback of the young season.
Victor Wembanyama was the main reason why. One night after Luka Doncic put up 53 on Portland, the Blazers ran into another star who looked impossible to contain.
Wembanyama finished with 29 points, seven rebounds and three assists in only 24 minutes, opening fast with eight of San Antonio’s first 11 points. He kept the pressure on in the third quarter, when he posted 13 points, four rebounds and three assists on 6-for-9 shooting.
He hurt Portland in the paint with alley-oop finishes and also stretched the floor with long-range shots. One sequence summed it up: Wembanyama grabbed a rebound, launched a long outlet pass to Stephon Castle, and watched it turn into a breakaway dunk early in the third as the Spurs pushed the lead to 66-49.
San Antonio won the quarter 45-27, and Wembanyama never had to play a minute of the fourth.
The game never found much rhythm, either. What was billed as a marquee matchup - complete with multiple All-Stars, a generational talent from France and two teams that met in the Western Conference playoffs last season - turned into a whistle-heavy mess.
A sellout crowd came to Moda Center to watch Wembanyama dunk and block shots, to see Damian Lillard face the Spurs for the first time since January 2025, and to gauge how much ground Portland had gained on the reigning Western Conference champions. Instead, the night was filled with stoppages.
The teams were called for 32 fouls in the first half alone, leading to 41 free throws, and the flow never really settled in. Deni Avdija kept drawing contact on drives, Wembanyama was flopping and flailing, and Lillard kept getting fouled on deep three-point attempts.
Late in the second half, after a ticky-tack foul on Wembanyama, the Moda crowd broke into “Refs, you suck! Refs, you suck!”
By then, the Spurs had already built a 35-point cushion, so even the cleaner second half came too late to rescue the entertainment value.
There was at least a bit of encouraging injury news for Portland. Coach Micah Nori said starting point guard Ja Morant, who is out with a Grade 2 hamstring strain, saw doctors in Los Angeles on Friday and the consultation went well.
Nori said that could mean Morant returns sooner than first expected. “Not to put any timeline on it, but it might not be as extensive as what we thought it was, which would be a positive,” Nori said Saturday.
“I don’t know if that’s four weeks, six weeks, whatever it may be. But I’m hoping it’s on the shorter end of their initial prognosis, if that makes sense.”
Morant hurt the hamstring on Oct. 29 in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies and was originally expected to miss at least four weeks. The Blazers have held up reasonably well without him, but with Scoot Henderson struggling and Nori wanting to avoid extended minutes for Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday, getting Morant back sooner rather than later would be a welcome development.
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Blazers Suddenly Face A Bigger Scoot Henderson Decision Than Expected
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For Portland, the decision is less about talent in a vacuum than about timing, fit and the realities of restricted free agency down the road. Any move involving Henderson would carry real strategic weight, especially with Atlanta emerging as a possible trade partner, but for now it remains a matter of possibility rather than something that has actually been put in motion. [Read more 🡒]