Fox beats Wembanyama as Spurs beat Trail Blazers while 76ers and Knicks enjoy key wins
The San Antonio Spurs entered the semifinals of the Western Conference last night after a great individual performance: and it was not delivered by Victor Wembanyama.
Wembanyama was strong on defense but it was De’Aaron Fox who stole the show, scoring 13 of his team-high 21 points in the final quarter to propel San Antonio to a 114-95 Game Five victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
That secured the Spurs a 4-1 series win, their first in the postseason since 2017.
“It took a while, but it feels good,” said Fox, who added nine assists. “We felt that we had put ourselves in a position to win [in] all five games. There are times when we experience drought or repentance. Those things happen. I try not to fix those things myself. For me, especially on the fourth, it was just [important to] keep moving. I was rejected a lot in this thread. They were physical and I wasn’t in football. I had a good fourth quarter and we tried to put it away. “
Teammate Julian Champagnie described Fox as “close” to the team and coach Mitch Johnson was full of praise for the 2023/23 NBA Clutch Player of the Year.
“He was Clutch Player of the Year for a reason,” Johnson said. “He’s in a different situation now in terms of sometimes having the basketball in his hands at that volume every night in the fourth quarter. He’s probably as good as any player I’ve seen at gauging how he’s going to play, and when he’s going to go on it. And when he gets to it, he’s not disruptive. If we help him with our organization and separation and give him the space to play much better in that regard.”
The Spurs now face the winner of the series between the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves lead 3-2 heading into Game Six.
Embiid frustrates the Celtics to keep the series alive
Joel Embiid poured in 33 points to keep the Philadelphia 76ers alive in their Eastern Conference series against the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics are still leading 3-2 but could not get the job done even though they were on the home field as Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, who scored 25 points and added 10 rebounds, ensured that there will be a Game 6 back in Philly tomorrow night.
“Obviously you don’t want to go home, so you do whatever,” Embiid said. “I thought defensively we did a better job, especially not overpowering like we did last game. And yeah, offensively it’s a little bit easier when you shoot. We definitely made more shots than we did last game. So that’s a good combination if you want to win a basketball game.”
Jaysun Tatum led Boston with 24 points and 16 rebounds but their challenge intensified in the fourth quarter as the Celtics missed their final 14 shots to fall short.
“First of all, give them credit,” Tatum said. “They played well. And yeah, a couple of looks that we felt good about that we didn’t do. But sometimes that happens. You know, it’s just tough. Not scoring the way you want to put a lot of pressure on your defense, and they make some plays on the other end.”
The Knicks won Game 5 thanks to a brilliant Brunson
The New York Knicks rebounded with a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Hawks after a 126-97 victory in Game Five at Madison Square Garden.
Jalen Brunson was the hero for the Knicks with 39 points as New York produced a second consecutive dominant game after losing by one point.
“You have to go through some adversity during the year and see what you do, see how you respond,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “There are a lot of guys who have been through it this year and are still going through it, they have been through it as a team, nothing will get in the way of this team, this veteran team.”
Game Six is tomorrow night.
