Wembanyama Leads Spurs Past Blazers 125-103

Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points in 24 minutes and the San Antonio Spurs blew out the Portland Trail Blazers 125-103 at Moda Center on Saturday night. Wembanyama needed just 13 shots to get there, going 9 of 13 from the field and 3 of 6 from three, and San Antonio rolled to its eighth straight win.

The Spurs improved to 8-2 and 4-0 on the road, sitting alone atop the Southwest Division. Portland fell to 6-3 and 1-2 at home, dropping its second in a row.

Twenty-Nine Points, Almost No Waste

Wembanyama’s night was about efficiency as much as volume. He added seven rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block, and he went 8 of 9 at the line. San Antonio got him out after 24 minutes, 5 seconds because it did not need a heavier load. Devin Vassell scored 15, Stephon Castle and Julian Champagnie each had 14, and Dylan Harper added 13 with seven rebounds and four assists.

De’Aaron Fox finished with eight points and six assists in under 22 minutes. The Spurs spread the work around and still shot 17 of 44 from three and 28 of 30 from the line. Their bench poured in 46 points.

The Middle Two Quarters Ended It

San Antonio led only 22-20 after one quarter. Then the dam broke. The Spurs scored 42 points in the second and 45 in the third, outscoring Portland 87-56 across those two periods and stretching the lead as high as 35. They never trailed after taking the lead (zero lead changes, one tie) and turned a close opening frame into a blowout before the fourth-quarter backups checked in.

Portland won the fourth 27-16, but the deficit was already too big. Deni Avdija led the Blazers with 15 points. Scoot Henderson scored 13, Damian Lillard had 12 points and seven assists in under 20 minutes, and Jrue Holiday added 11 off the bench. Yang Hansen posted the first double-double of his career with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Eight Straight and Counting

A team that started 0-2 is now 8-2 with the West’s longest active winning streak. San Antonio grabbed 51 rebounds to Portland’s 38, assisted on 29 baskets, and scored 40 points in the paint. The Blazers shot 9 of 35 from three and turned it over 17 times. That is not a recipe for hanging with a Spurs group that just kept adding on.

Portland hosts Oklahoma City on Tuesday and Wednesday, a brutal back-to-back against another 8-2 Western contender. San Antonio heads to Phoenix on Monday looking to make it nine in a row. Wembanyama has the Spurs playing like the team everyone expected when the season opened, and he is doing it without needing 35 minutes a night.

Smacktok pick lean: Lean higher on Victor Wembanyama points at Phoenix on Monday. He just dropped 29 in 24 minutes on 9-of-13 shooting, so the counting stats came without a heavy minutes load.