NBA playoffs: Victor Wembanyama drops 35 points in postseason debut to lead Spurs past Trail Blazers

Victor Wembanyama’s playoff debut went perfectly on Sunday night.

Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a commanding 111-98 win over the Portland Trail Blazers to kick off their playoff series. He had 35 points and five rebounds to power the team to the win at the Frost Bank Center, which was packed with Spurs fans in Fiesta-themed playoff shirts that more than met the moment — considering it was the team’s first playoff game since 2019.

Wembanyama wasted no time getting going, either. He dropped 21 points in the first half, which set an NBA play-by-play record for the most points scored in the opening half of a playoff debut, and sent the Spurs into the locker room with a double-digit lead. That broke the previous mark of 20 points held by both Kyrie Irving and Brandon Jennings.

Wembanyama went an impressive 8-of-13 from the field in the first 24 minutes, and did a little bit of everything with ease — including absolutely working Deni Adija to set up a wild dunk in the first quarter.

But Portland opened the second half on an 8-0 run, which cut the game back to just a single possession and forced a Spurs timeout not even three minutes into the period. The first-half advantage they had built disappeared almost immediately.

Spurs hold on for dominant win

Wembanyama didn’t score at all in the third quarter, but he didn’t need to. The Spurs, after nearly blowing their lead, erupted on a 13-4 run and pushed the lead to 15 points at its peak in the final minutes of the period. Then, just minutes into the fourth quarter, Wembanyama rolled to the bench, high-fiving everyone after blocking Jerami Grant at the rim without even leaving his feet to set up an easy fast-break layup that put the Spurs up by 21.

Since that 8-0 run from Portland, the Spurs went on a massive 32-13 tear to take full control of the game right back. From there, they simply held on the rest of the way to secure the win and take the 1-0 series lead.