If you turned off your television at halftime during Game 4, nobody would blame you. The Portland Trail Blazers were up by 17 points, completely controlling the tempo inside the Moda Center, and looked poised to tie this first-round series at two games apiece.
But basketball is a game of two halves, and what happened in the final 24 minutes was nothing short of a basketball massacre. The San Antonio Spurs didn’t just crawl their way back into the game; they kicked the doors off the hinges. San Antonio outscored Portland by an absurd 73-35 margin in the second half, cruising to a 114-93 victory. With this win, the Spurs take a commanding 3-1 series lead, leaving the Blazers shell-shocked and searching for answers.
The Alien Returns: Wembanyama Shakes Off the Rust
We have to talk about Victor Wembanyama. After taking a scary face-first fall in Game 2 that landed him in the NBA’s concussion protocol, nobody was entirely sure if the superstar big man would even suit up for Game 4. He was cleared literally an hour before tip-off.
Most normal human beings would take a quarter or two to find their legs. But Wemby isn’t normal. The Defensive Player of the Year immediately made up for lost time, putting up a ridiculous stat line of 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 blocks. He completely anchored the defense in the second half, turning the paint into a no-fly zone and making Portland’s bigs look like they were shooting into a thimble.
De’Aaron Fox and the Spurs’ Supporting Cast Bring the Heat
While Wembanyama was holding down the paint, De’Aaron Fox was putting the Blazers’ perimeter defenders in a blender. Fox took over when it mattered most, dropping a game-high 28 points to go along with 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Whenever Portland tried to stop the bleeding, Fox was there to hit a backbreaker from the perimeter or carve his way to the rim.
The Spurs also got plenty of grit from Stephon Castle. Castle, who dropped 33 points in Game 3, added 16 points and 8 assists in this one. He even got into a late-game scuffle with Deni Avdija, proving that this young San Antonio squad isn’t backing down from anybody’s physical intimidation tactics.
A Historic Meltdown For the Trail Blazers
For Portland, the film room session on Monday is going to be incredibly painful. You simply cannot blow massive leads in back-to-back playoff games and expect to survive. In Game 3, they gave up a 15-point advantage. In Game 4, they let a 19-point lead slip through their fingers like sand.
The collapse was so profound that it actually broke the record books. The Spurs became the first team in the history of the NBA Playoffs to trail by 15 or more points and then go on to win by a margin of 15 or more. While Portland’s Avdija fought hard for his 26 points, the rest of the roster went ice cold. Scoot Henderson put up a brutal goose egg, missing all seven of his shot attempts, and the offense completely stagnated against San Antonio’s suffocating adjustments.
What’s Next For the Spurs?
Now, the series shifts back to Texas for Game 5. The Spurs have all the momentum, the history, and a healthy generational superstar ready to close the curtains on Portland’s season. If the Blazers want to keep their playoff hopes alive, they need to figure out how to play a full 48 minutes. Otherwise, San Antonio is going to pack them up and send them into the offseason.
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