NBA playoffs: Victor Wembanyama drops historic 35 points in postseason debut to lead Spurs past Trail Blazers
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs now hold a 1-0 lead in their first playoff series since 2019.
Victor Wembanyama made the most of his NBA playoff debut on Sunday night. (Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) Ronald Cortes via Getty Images 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 striped 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 alone, 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. ALIEN ACTIVITY IN THE PLAYOFFS 👽 📺 @NBAonNBC pic.
twitter. com/vlhuPz9ly7 — San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) April 20, 2026 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 up disappeared almost immediately.