Victor Wembanyama scores big in his first career playoff game

Victor Wembanyama scores big in his first career playoff game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

In his first career playoff game, Victor Wembanyama dropped 35 points in the San Antonio Spurs opening game win.

The No. 2 seed Spurs took down the No. 7 Portland Trail Blazers 111-98 in the first game of their first round matchup. It was the first playoff game of the Wembanyama era of the team and he took the spotlight.

Along with his 35 points, he also grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots. The Spurs take the series lead 1-0.

Wembanyama was named one of three MVP finalists Sunday. He is also a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year award. It's the second time in his career that he's been a finalist for DPOY, but the first time he has been on the short list for MVP.

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In the first half alone, he scored 21 points and was 8-13 from the field. He also made 3-4 from beyond the arc in the first half.

He finished the game going 13-21 from the field, good for 62 percent. He added another two 3-pointers in the second half to finish 83 percent from deep.

The main blemish on his stat sheet was his four turnovers, but the Spurs still heavily controlled the game in each quarter. While they should get past the first round without much push back, they need Wemby to perform like he did tonight to get through the Western conference gauntlet.

All three MVP finalists, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokić and Wembanyama, are on the top three teams in the West.