Blazers rally stuns Spurs after Wembanyama injury
Victor Wembanyama exited the San Antonio Spurs' playoff clash with the Portland Trail Blazers after suffering a head injury (Ronald Cortes) The Portland Trail Blazers exploited an injury to Victor Wembanyama to score an upset 106-103 victory over the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in their NBA Western Conference playoff series on Tuesday. San Antonio superstar Wembanyama -- who had scored 35 points in the Spurs' game one win on Sunday -- exited in the second quarter at the Frost Bank Center in Texas after hitting his head on the court following a collision with Portland's Jrue Holiday. The 22-year-old looked groggy as he lay on the floor for several minutes before getting to his feet and jogging to the locker room.
The 7ft 4in (2. 24m) forward was subsequently ruled out of the remainder of the game after entering the concussion protocol. San Antonio looked to have overcome Wembanyama's injury as they pulled into a 14-point lead early in the fourth quarter, leading 93-79 with just over eight minutes left on the clock.
But with victory seemingly in sight, San Antonio's shooting went ice cold and the absence of newly crowned NBA defensive player of the year Wembanyama was keenly felt as a determined Portland snaffled victory, closing the fourth quarter with a 27-10 run. Scoot Henderson led Portland's scoring with 31 points, while Holiday added 16. "Basketball is a game of runs, and the basketball gods are always gonna repay the ones that play the game right," Henderson told NBC television afterwards.
Game three of the best-of-seven series takes place in Portland on Friday. - Sixers bounce back - In the Eastern Conference playoffs, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe combined for 59 points as the Philadelphia 76ers scored a series-leveling 111-97 victory on the road over the Boston Celtics. Edgecombe made six-of-10 three-point attempts before finishing with 30 points, 10 rebounds and two assists in a stunning victory for the Sixers, who had trailed 26-13 early in the first quarter before rallying.
Maxey was also lethal from long-range, making five three-pointers on his way to a 29-point haul. The bounce-back victory came after the Sixers were thrashed 123-91 in game one on Sunday, after a performance that Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse lambasted as "absolutely unacceptable. " Nurse was unsurprisingly happier with his team's winning display on Tuesday.