San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was placed in the NBA's concussion protocol after tumbling face-first to the court during Tuesday night's playoff loss to Portland. The Spurs fell 106-103 to even the Western Conference first-round series at one game apiece.
“He has a concussion. He’s in the protocol,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “We’ll take the proper and appropriate steps.” Any extended absence by Wembanyama would be a massive blow to San Antonio, which finished with the league's second-best record behind their 7ft 4in center, who won this year's NBA defensive player of the year.
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. Game 3 is Friday in Portland. It seems improbable that Wembanyama would be cleared by then, but Johnson wouldn't speculate about his status.
The Spurs went 12-6 during the regular season without Wembanyama. “We’ve all got to step up,” Spurs guard Devin Vassell said. “We know what Vic brings to the table. We’ve played without him for a couple games this year. It’s going to be next man up.”
Wembanyama was fouled by Jrue Holiday after he spun around the Trail Blazers point guard in the paint. He was not able to brace himself on the fall, and his jaw hit the court with 8:57 remaining in the second quarter. He remained on the court for about 30 seconds before sitting up and speaking to teammate Stephon Castle. Johnson called a timeout to check on Wembanyama, who immediately ran through the tunnel after getting to his feet.
Veteran Luke Kornet replaced Wembanyama and started the second half at center, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes. San Antonio are in the playoffs for the first time since 2019 and beat Portland in Game 1 behind 35 points from Wembanyama. Without him, the Spurs blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
