De’Aaron Fox scored 28 points and Victor Wembanyama had 27 in his return from concussion protocol, helping the visiting San Antonio Spurs to a 114-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series on Sunday.
Fox sank 11 of 17 shots from the floor and drained four 3-pointers to aid the Spurs in overcoming a 19-point deficit to seize a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 is Tuesday in San Antonio. After sitting out Game 3, Wembanyama showed why he was the NBA’s first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year by recording 11 rebounds, seven blocks and four steals.
Stephon Castle collected 16 points and eight assists while dealing with both an injured left hand and foul trouble. Devin Vassell added 11 points for the Spurs, who outscored the Trail Blazers by a 73-35 margin in the second half. Deni Avdija scored 26 points, Jrue Holiday had 20 and Jerami Grant added 17 off the bench for the Trail Blazers.
Tied at 74 entering the fourth quarter, the Spurs opened the period on a 27-7 run. Castle set up Wembanyama for a trio of alley-oop dunks before Fox sank a pair of jumpers and a 3-pointer to give San Antonio an 87-77 lead with 7:47 left. Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson converted from beyond the arc and added a pair of driving buckets to extend San Antonio’s lead to 101-81 with 4:31 remaining.
Rockets 115, Lakers 96
Amen Thompson scored a game-high 23 points, Tari Eason added 20 and Houston averted elimination with a victory over visiting Los Angeles in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Rockets, who played without Kevin Durant (ankle) for the third time in the series. Reed Sheppard chipped in 17 points on 4-for-7 3-point shooting while Alperen Sengun (19 points) and Jabari Smith Jr. (16 points) rounded out the balanced offensive attack.
After dominating Game 3 and co-authoring the Lakers’ overtime victory, LeBron James (10 points, nine assists) and Marcus Smart (nine, five) shot a combined 5 of 17 from the floor. Deandre Ayton finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds but was ejected in the third quarter.
Raptors 93, Cavaliers 89
Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes each scored 23 points and Toronto held off visiting Cleveland to even the best-of-seven first-round playoff series at 2-2.
Barnes added nine rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots to his stat line and scored 10 fourth-quarter points, knocking down all six free throw attempts in the final 34.6 seconds. RJ Barrett added 18 points for the Raptors, and Collin Murray-Boyles scored 15 with 10 rebounds.
Donovan Mitchell scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for Cleveland. James Harden added 19 points but had seven turnovers. Jarrett Allen had three points and a game-high 15 rebounds, while Sam Merrill contributed 14 points.
Celtics 128, 76ers 96
Payton Pritchard scored a career-playoff-high 32 points off the bench and Boston took a 3-1 series lead with a convincing road victory over Philadelphia.
Jayson Tatum made five treys and recorded 30 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 20 points and seven rebounds as the second-seeded Celtics moved one victory away from winning the Eastern Conference first-round series. Game 5 is Tuesday in Boston.
Joel Embiid played for the first time in the series for the seventh-seeded 76ers after undergoing an appendectomy two-plus weeks ago. He scored 26 points on 9-of-21 shooting and collected 10 rebounds and six assists while playing 34 minutes. Tyrese Maxey scored 22 points and Paul George added 16 for the 76ers.
