Scoot Henderson scored 31 points and the Portland Trail Blazers took advantage of an injury to Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, rallying for a 106-103 victory over San Antonio to even their Western Conference playoff series at one game apiece.
Wembanyama tumbled face-first when he was fouled by Jrue Holiday in the second quarter and his jaw slammed into the floor.
He entered the NBA’s concussion protocol, which raises the possibility the versatile 7ft 4in center could miss multiple games, with game three between Spurs and Portland taking place on Friday in the best-of-seven series.
Under league guidelines, a player in the concussion protocol must have at least 48 hours of inactivity and recovery and then hit several benchmarks without symptoms before being cleared to play.
A player must undergo neurological testing and receive a final clearance from a team doctor in consultation with the league’s concussion protocol director.
“He has a concussion. He’s in the protocol. We’ll take the proper and appropriate steps,” said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson.
“The protocol is the protocol. We’ll just follow it as everyone else does and plan accordingly.”
The second-seeded Spurs looked like they could win without Wembanyama, building a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter before their offense stagnated.
However, Portland held San Antonio without a field goal for the final three and a half minutes as they closed the game on an 11-2 run. Robert Williams III converted an alley-oop dunk with 12 seconds left for a 104-101 lead after Deni Avdija muscled through the paint and fed him the ball.
LeBron leads Lakers to 2-0 series lead over Rockets
LeBron James led the Lakers to a 2-0 lead against Houston Rockets
LeBron James had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers outlasted the Houston Rockets for a 101-94 victory and a stunning 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Marcus Smart had 25 points and seven assists for the Lakers, who have twice overcome the absences of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves with a team effort led by the 41-year-old James.
Los Angeles did it again in game two despite the return of Kevin Durant, who scored just three of his 23 points in the second half against the Lakers’ tenacious defense.
Luke Kennard scored 23 points for Los Angeles, which nursed a small lead throughout the fourth quarter of game two. Smart found James streaking down the lane for a theatrical dunk with 55 seconds to play, and Kennard added two late free throws to ice it.
The other playoff match on Tuesday night saw Philadelphia 76ers beat Boston Celtics 111-97 to make it 1-1.
VJ Edgecombe had 30 points and 10 rebounds while playing through pain after taking a hard fall early in the game, connecting on six of the 76ers’ 19 three-pointers.
The Celtics cut a seven-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to 91-89 before an 11-0 run put the 76ers back in front 102-89 with just over four minutes to play, s the Celtics pulled their starters with a little more than a minute remaining.
Watch the 2026 NBA playoffs live on Sky Sports, continuing with the Oklahoma City Thunder vs Phoenix Suns, on Sky Sports Main Event at 3am on Thursday.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
