Wembanyama Scores 29 in Three Quarters as Spurs Rout Blazers 125-103 for Eighth Straight Win

There are blowouts, and then there are nights when a team is so far in front that its best player does not even need the fourth quarter. Saturday night in Portland was the second kind. Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points in three quarters, took a seat for the final twelve minutes, and watched the San Antonio Spurs finish off a 125-103 rout of the Trail Blazers that stretched their winning run to eight games.

The Spurs never trailed. Not once. They led by two after the first quarter, then poured in 42 points in the second, hitting seven three-pointers and 17 of 18 free throws, to take a 64-49 lead into half-time. Wembanyama already had 16 by then. Whatever Portland had planned for the second half lasted about two minutes. San Antonio opened the third quarter with an 11-0 run, Wembanyama scored 13 points in the period alone — a tip-in here, a three there, a personal 5-0 burst that pushed the lead to 84-59 — and by the time Dylan Harper's basket made it a 30-point game with 4:14 left in the quarter, the Moda Center crowd had gone quiet. The Spurs scored 45 in the third on 18-of-27 shooting, led 109-76 going into the fourth, and spent the rest of the evening in garbage time.

The numbers were as one-sided as the score. San Antonio shot 17 of 44 from three-point range, drained 28 of 30 free throws, and outrebounded Portland 51-38. The lead peaked at 35. Wembanyama finished 9 of 13 from the field and 3 of 6 from deep, adding seven rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes, and the Spurs still won the fourth quarter's leftovers comfortably despite sitting every starter.

It was not a one-man show, either. Devin Vassell added 15 points, Stephon Castle had 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, reserve Julian Champagnie scored 14, and Dylan Harper chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds. That depth is what makes this Spurs run feel different from a hot streak built on one star. When Wembanyama sat, the machine kept running.

Portland, for its part, simply had no answer. Deni Avdija led the Blazers with 15 points and Scoot Henderson added 13, but the home side shot its way into a hole early and never climbed out. It was Portland's second straight defeat, dropping the Blazers to 6-3, and the second night in a row they had been beaten after losing to the Lakers the night before.

The Spurs, meanwhile, are 8-2 and third in the Western Conference, and they are doing it with a style that is starting to look like a statement rather than a surprise. Eight straight wins, and this one the most dominant of the lot — a 22-point margin that flattered the losers, since the starters were already resting. They visit the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, and on this evidence, the Suns will need a better plan than Portland had.