Victor Wembanyama walked off the court at the Moda Center on Sunday with a series win, a clean concussion test, and a question he could not answer about how he was about to spend the next 48 hours.
The San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers 114-93 in Game 4 to win the first-round series 4-1, advancing to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 2017. Wembanyama, back after the concussion that knocked him out of Game 2, finished with 27 points and confirmed that the version of San Antonio walking out of the first round is the version Gregg Popovich's staff was banking on all year.
For Wembanyama, the lesson of the series was less about dominance and more about resilience.
"We learned that we can overcome difficulties game on the fly like that," Wembanyama said in his on-court interview. "And obviously with the regular season, we know how to prepare games. So it's two great qualities."
De'Aaron Fox, in his first full playoff run as a Spur after the February trade that sent him from Sacramento, leaned on a description of his role that has become a recurring theme since he arrived.
"Just try to use my gravity, when I have the ball, when I don't have the ball," Fox said. "If I can get an open shot or get a teammate an open shot, that's what I try to do."
That answer prompted Wembanyama to push the gravity comparison much further than Fox did.
"It's like no one else," Wembanyama said of the player guarding him on most defensive possessions. "Between probably him and Steph, like those are the only guys that you see that have the type of gravity that they have. And it's amazing to play with, but with Steph, you can't just throw the ball to the moon."
The joke landed in the visitors' tunnel because it was a reference to Wembanyama's own range. The serious version of it is what San Antonio expects from its 7'4 anchor as the basketball gets harder over the next month.
Fox closed the final two games of the series, scoring 30 in Game 3 and adding 24 with seven assists in Game 4. Wembanyama gave him the credit that mattered most in the postgame line.
"He knows how to step up in the right moments, for sure," Wembanyama said. "And he knows how to share with teammates, so he's just versatile."
The Spurs now wait. Their second-round opponent will be either the Denver Nuggets or the Minnesota Timberwolves, with that series tied 2-2 heading into Game 5. Wembanyama, asked what he plans to do for the next several days, gave the most honest answer of the night.
"I don't know," he said. "Watching every game."
The Spurs have not won a playoff series since 2017. Wembanyama, on his first full healthy playoff run, has not been alive long enough to remember the last time the franchise reached the second round as the higher seed. Both of those things change on Thursday.
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*Originally published on [NBA News Global](https://nbanews.global/article/spurs-eliminate-blazers-game-4-wembanyama-fox-western-semifinals-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
