The Defensive Player of the Year traveled with the Spurs to Portland for two playoff games, but it remains uncertain if he’ll suit up.
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs received two encouraging signs Thursday regarding Victor Wembanyama’s health as they prepared to head to Portland for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.
The first was that he was cleared to travel with the team—no small thing, considering how far they’re flying. The second was that, on Thursday night, the newly minted Defensive Player of the Year was listed as “questionable” to play Friday, just three days after suffering a concussion in a Game 2 loss.
Even if he doesn’t end up playing, that’s an indication of how fast he may be progressing and how soon he could return to the court. The series between San Antonio and Portland is tied up at 1-1 in the best-of-seven matchup; a Game 5 and return to San Antonio is assured, but the Silver & Black don’t want to be on the brink of elimination when they come back to Frost Bank Center.
The team received another potentially encouraging glimpse as Wembanyama’s progression when he participated in shootaround Friday afternoon, ahead of tipoff at 9:30 p.m. He was still listed as questionable to play as of 5 p.m., but that will change one way or another as game time nears.
If he doesn’t play, backup center Luke Kornet is likely to start in his place. The veteran 7-footer averaged 6.5 points on 64.3% shooting in 21 minutes per game in the regular season. His 6.1 rebounds while also tallying 6.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game were both second on the team, behind Wemby.
As Kornet pointed out Friday, the Spurs went 2-1 against the Trail Blazers in the regular season. Wembanyama missed all those matchups.
“I feel like when you have those reps and you kind of know what the team looks like, you have different people take on different responsibilities,” Kornet said. “We’re just prepared to go out and play, go try and win the game.”
NBA insiders have reported that the typical timeline for players to return from concussions is seven to 10 days. The league’s concussion protocol requires Wembanyama to advance through multiple stages of energy exertion; he must also be cleared not only by the team but NBA officials.
“He’s progressing every day, he’s progressing well,” Dylan Harper said. “All we can really do is pray for him and hopes that the trajectory he’s going in keeps happening.”
Harper scored six and 10 points in Games 1 and 2, respectively, while coming off the bench. It’s starters like Kornet, Stephon Castle (17.5 points per game in the series so far) and De’Aaron Fox (17 ppg) who will likely also carry a bigger offensive load.
Fox, a two-time All-Star, led the Spurs in scoring in 11 of the 18 games the Frenchman sat in the regular season. He averaged 26.7 points in those 11 matchups.
“Dropping Game 2, you know you have to go in there and win in their building,” Fox said before the team flew out Thursday. “I think that’s what we’re excited about. When you play a team over and over and over again, you start to see adjustments, you start to see patterns. I think we’re ready. We know what this team wants to do.”
Tipoff is at 9:30 p.m. CT on Prime Video.