The San Antonio Spurs saw their season flash before their eyes during Tuesday’s game, as star center Victor Wembanyama was forced to leave the game early due to a concussion. The Spurs couldn’t hang on without Wembanyama, falling 106-103 to the Portland Trail Blazers and evening the series at 1-1 ahead of Friday’s Game 3.
While Wembanyama has made progress since his concussion, he was ruled out by head coach Mitch Johnson before Game 3. Under NBA rules, Wembanyama was eligible to play in the contest, but only if his symptoms improved and he passed the league’s rigorous series of tests and evaluations before Friday’s game.
Wembanyama originally sustained the injury in the second quarter of Tuesday’s loss to the Trail Blazers. With 8:57 remaining in the quarter, Wembanyama was fouled by Jrue Holiday while the Spurs big man tried to drive the lane. Wembanyama lost his footing as a result of the foul, and smacked his face off the court on his way to the floor. He left the contest and was unable to return, finishing with five points and four rebounds in just under 12 minutes of play.
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Wembanyama was eventually ruled out of the contest due to a concussion, which placed him in the league’s protocol. Under that protocol, Wembanyama was not allowed to return to play for 48 hours. With Game 3 falling 72 hours after he sustained the concussion, that left a window for Wembanyama to return in time to play in Game 3, but only if he was able to pass additional tests required under the NBA concussion policy.
On Wednesday, Wembanyama showed progress, and was able to take part in light cardio with the team. He returned to team facilities Thursday and was able to do some additional work. Wembanyama was able to do enough that he was cleared to travel to Portland with the Spurs ahead of Friday’s game.
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Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Thursday that Wembanyama “looked good,” but the coach made it clear Wembanyama was still in the league’s protocol. Still, Wembanyama was listed as “questionable” on the team’s injury report Thursday, giving him a shot to return.
Ahead of Friday’s game, Wembanyama was spotted on the court during shootaround, though was still in league protocol at the time.
Wembanyama’s presence would drastically alter the rest of the Spurs’ series against the Trail Blazers. The 22-year-old took a massive step forward this season, averaging 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game. That performance earned Wembanyama the Defensive Player of the Year award and should result in him being one of the top vote-getters for the MVP award.
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His excellence was fully on display in the Spurs’ Game 1 win over the Trail Blazers, in which Wembanyama dropped 35 points and pulled down five rebounds in the 111-98 win.
This story will be updated.
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