Wembanyama returns from concussion and Spurs beat Blazers 114-93 to take 3-1 series lead

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 27 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks in his return from a concussion and the San Antonio Spurs took a 3-1 lead in their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers with a 114-93 victory on Sunday.

De'Aaron Fox added 28 points for the Spurs, who will return home for Game 5 on Tuesday night.

The Spurs announced about an hour before the game that Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 Defensive Player of the Year, would play after clearing the league's concussion protocol.

After the game, he indicated that the way his return to play was handled was “very disappointing” but emphasized that he was treated well by the Spurs’ medical staff. He would not elaborate, saying he did not want to be a distraction.

The Spurs trailed the Blazers by 17 points at the half, but the game was knotted at 74 going into the fourth quarter. Fox and Keldon Johnson hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Spurs up 90-77 with 7:14 left.

Johnson's dunk with 4:31 remaining made it 101-81 for San Antonio and all but sealed the win.

“We need to find the answers before having our back against the wall,” Wembanyama said about the second-half comeback. “But that also shows the strength of our team in adversity. We stick together. We get closer to each other, we feed off of each other's energy.”

Deni Avdija led the Trail Blazers with 26 points. There was tense moment with 2:13 left when Avdija and Stephon Castle exchanged shoves. They were given offsetting technical fouls.

“You can be tough, you can be, you know, physical, but there’s a level of disrespect that I’m not gonna accept,” Avdija said about the dustup.

Wembanyama sustained a concussion in the first half of San Antonio's 106-103 loss on Tuesday and was unavailable Friday night for Game 3. But the Spurs rallied in the third quarter and won 120-108 to take the series lead.

Wembanyama, who was listed as questionable going into Sunday's game, started and drew gasps from the crowd at the Moda Center with an emphatic dunk with 9:58 to go in the first half.

Portland went ahead 45-28 in the first half on an 18-3 run. Robert Williams III dunked before a pair of quick 3-pointers from Jerami Grant and Scoot Henderson. Avdija capped the run with a fadeaway jumper.

The Blazers led by as many as 19 in the half and were ahead 58-41 at the break.

Stephon Castle, who had 33 points in San Antonio’s Game 3 win, appeared to injure his left hand in the first half but returned.

The Spurs went on a 13-0 run to open the second half and closed the gap to 58-54 as the Blazers went cold. Devin Vassell's jumper with 4:38 tied it at 62 for the Spurs. He hit another to put San Antonio in front.

“I think there's no useless drama in between us,” Wembanyama said. “We thrive when we do the invisible efforts that benefit others. There’s no jealousy. There’s nobody who cares about their stat line. So it’s our greatest strength.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Portland Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan goes for a jump ball during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the San Antonio Spurs, in Portland, Ore., Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama is guarded by Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series in Portland, Ore., Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama looks during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Portland Trail Blazers, in Portland, Ore., Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) goes for the ball as San Antonio Spurs center/forward Luke Kornet (7) looks on during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series in Portland, Ore., Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama (1) reacts with guard De'aaron Fox after aplay during the first half in Game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Portland Trail Blazers, in Portland, Ore., Sunday, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Payton Pritchard made six of Boston’s 24 3-pointers and scored 32 points and Jayson Tatum had 30 points and 11 assists to help the Boston Celtics spoil Joel Embiid’s return from an appendectomy and beat the Philadelphia 76ers 128-96 on Sunday night for a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Boston.

“It's going to have to be a big pick-up mentally,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said.

Jaylen Brown scored 20 points for the Celtics, who thumped the Sixers by 32 points for the second time in the series. The Celtics outrebounded the Sixers 51-30.

Embiid scored 26 points in 34 minutes just 17 days after having an appendectomy. Embiid wasted little time scoring in his first game since April 6. The two-time NBA scoring champion sank two free throws for the Sixers’ first points of the game, added a monster two-handed jam and scored the team’s first eight points.

Embiid withered after the fast start and missed seven straight shots before he converted a three-point play in the third quarter. That cut the Sixers' deficit to 23.

The Celtics hardly needed much production from Brown or Tatum — they combined for 50 points in a Game 3 win and only 13 in the first half of Game 4 — and used a whopping 14-rebound edge in the first half that sparked a 13-0 shutout in second-chance points to build a 21-point lead.

All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey took a backseat to Embiid and took only three shots in the first half. He scored 22 points for the Sixers.

“That can't happen," Maxey said of the slow start. “That's on me. That's just unacceptable by me. I was playing within the flow of the game. It kind of happened that way. It wasn't meant to happen that way.”

Maxey and the Sixers largely tried to get Embiid rolling early.

Embiid had an appendectomy in Houston on April 9 after Philadelphia’s star big man was stricken with appendicitis overnight. He returned to the court Sunday wearing a protective brace around his midsection and was cleared to play about 40 minutes before the scheduled tipoff.

“What am I going to do? Cry about it?” Embiid said of his latest postseason malady.

Whatever emotional lift he provided lasted only minutes into the first quarter.

Pritchard buried a long 3 on one leg to end the first quarter and give Boston a 34-18 lead.

“He’s just a guy that finds the game. He dictates the pace for us,” Celtics coach Joe Mazulla said. "He did a good job of that for himself and others tonight. When we’re at our best, he’s aggressive.”

Embiid shot 3 of 5 in the first quarter while the rest of the Sixers missed 10 of 13 shots.

There were some questions about how Tatum’s return in early March from the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered in the playoffs last May would affect the flow of a group that had learned to adjust and thrive without the six-time All-Star.

Instead, Tatum has reacclimated himself in short order and the Celtics are dominating like a team that feels as though the East will go through Boston.

Embiid's gutsy return mattered little, and now the Celtics can clinch the series at home and wait for the winner of the Atlanta Hawks-New York Knicks series.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid goes up for a dunk during the first half of Game 4 against the Boston Celtics in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Boston Celtics' Payton Pritchard, left, tries to get past Philadelphia 76ers' Dominick Barlow during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia 76ers' Andre Drummond, right, reacts past Boston Celtics' Neemias Queta after an injury during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (0) goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Boston Celtics' Sam Hauser, from left, Payton Pritchard and Nikola Vucevic react during the first half of Game 4 against the Philadelphia 76ers in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)