The San Antonio Spurs will be without the services of superstar Victor Wembanyama for Game 3 of their first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers. Wembanyama had entered the concussion protocol during the Spurs’ 106-103 Game 2 loss on Tuesday, and ESPN’s Shams Charania reports he has now been ruled out for Friday’s pivotal clash at Moda Center.
Wembanyama had exited Game 2 in the second quarter after a hard fall on a drive to the basket. The 22-year-old landed chin-first, and it was immediately quite clear all wasn’t well.
There was still hope that Wembanyama, who had five points (1-3 FG), four rebounds, one assist, and one block in Game 2, would still be available for Game 3. The concussion protocol guidelines state that a player cannot return to full participation for 48 hours after the time of injury. They also need to complete the required return-to-participation process, and he evidently didn’t hit the benchmarks.
Wembanyama, the first-ever unanimous DPOY winner, did travel to Portland for Game 3, but the Spurs will have to figure out a way to win without him. They should have actually won Game 2 despite his exit, but collapsed down the stretch.
The Spurs led by 14 points early in the fourth quarter, but the Trail Blazers stormed back to win and tie the series at 1-1. That loss has put a bit of pressure on them for these two road games. If they can’t win either, then this series might be all but over.
The Spurs will take confidence from the fact that they did build up that lead without Wembanyama and that they did pretty well without him in the regular season. They went 12-6 in the 18 games the Frenchman missed.
Backup center Luke Kornet did an admirable job stepping in for Wembanyama, who averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 3.1 blocks per game in 2025-26, and will be tasked with doing so again.
