Apr 26, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) dunks the basketball during the first half against the Portland Trail Blazers during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wa yrynen-Imagn Images The Spurs had a rollercoaster of a Game 4 in Victor Wembanyama’s return to action. San Antonio was dreadful, especially on offense, in the first half and trailed by a wide margin heading into the break before making a roaring comeback in the second half, outscoring the Trail Blazers 73 to 35 to get the 114-93 win. Now, they’ll return home up 3-1 in the series and with a chance to close it out on Tuesday. The start of the matinee game was predictably sloppy, with both teams struggling with turnovers and the Spurs showing some poor shot selection and questionable transition defense. As the minutes passed, things stabilized, and the two squads tried to play their games. San Antonio locked down on defense with a dominant Wembanyama deterring and altering shots near the rim and the perimeter defenders being active and energetic. The Silver and Black took a small lead that would, unfortunately, disappear when the bench checked in, as they struggled massively on offense. As they tend to do, after a drought, the Blazers went on a run to regain the lead, and the poor shot selection from earlier returned when the starters did for the visitors, allowing the hosts to stay ahead by two after the opening 12 minutes. It was a low-scoring first quarter, and unfortunately for the Spurs, their offense would only get worse in the second. Mitch Johnson tried some strange lineups in hopes of getting a spark, but nothing worked. The Blazers’ defense was suffocating in the halfcourt, with Jrue Holiday doing a great job of containing Wembanyama on the perimeter and San Antonio showing the lack of variety and imagination in its attack that hurt them occasionally in the regular season. The bench got outscored 23-5 in the first half, showing that the entire team was struggling and there would be no unexpected hero to save it. They were helped by a Spurs defense that wasn’t sharp and by some outrageous shotmaking from unlikely sources, but the Blazers should be commended for running every chance they got and moving the ball until it found the open man. At the break, they led by 17, and they deserved that buffer. As dominant as Portland was in the first half, they tend to be inconsistent, so it didn’t feel like the game was out of reach. The Spurs just needed to remember their identity, get some stops, and hit some threes, and the hope was that they could eventually chip away at the deficit, taking advantage of their often erratic opponent. There was room for optimism, but not even the most bullish fan could have predicted how quickly San Antonio would get on track and catch up on the scoreboard. The defense, which was lackadaisical earlier, became a blur of movement, with everyone in the perimeter showing energy and aggression. Stephon Castle was everywhere on both ends, playing through foul trouble, and Victor Wembanyama sealed off the paint. Even the second unit found some scoring. Everything went well for the Silver and Black and poorly for the Blazers, who only scored 16 points in the frame. The score was tied heading into the final period, and the concern was that the Spurs might have spent all their energy climbing their way out of a hole. The opposite seemed to happen. If anything, the Silver and Black looked energized after the fantastic third quarter and only got more dominant in the fourth. Castle was finding Wembanyama for easy buckets inside, and when the young guard had to take a break, De’Aaron Fox took over the game. It didn’t hurt that the Blazers went through one of their turnover-filled droughts, but San Antonio’s defense was partly responsible for their poor play on that end. A close win felt possible even at the worst points, but it would have been hard to predict the Spurs running away with it, dropping 40 in the fourth, one shy of the amount of points they had in the entire first half. It was a terrific comeback that showcased how high San Antonio’s ceiling really is. Game notes Wembanyama finished with an insane stat line in his return. He looked like himself on defense throughout and came alive on offense when he got to play off the ball more as a finisher instead of trying to create against smaller defenders with a lower center of gravity. Fantastic return for Wemby. Dylan Harper, the hero of Game 3, didn’t have it going on Sunday, but the two other guards did. Stephon Castle was limited by foul trouble but still managed to get 16 points and eight assists in 27 minutes while playing elite defense for stretches. De’Aaron Fox, seeing that the team needed him to look for his shot more aggressively, dropped 28 points in 17 shots and played almost 40 minutes, taking over when needed. It wasn’t just Harper who struggled off the bench. Luke Kornet and Carter Bryant, who were hugely important in Game 3, were not effective on Sunday. Harrison Barnes did well, but in a small role. And Keldon Johnson once again scored in single digits. The second unit wasn’t a major factor in the win. One possible reason for the struggles of some role players, apart from facing a deep opponent, might be due to experimentation by Mitch Johnson. Some of it has been forced by Wembanyama’s absence, but Mitch tried some strange lineups in the first half that simply didn’t work. He stuck with a more traditional rotation in the second half, and everyone seemed to feel more comfortable. After the Scoot Henderson and Dylan Harper verbal battle in Game 3, things got chippy between Stephon Castle and Deni Avdija. Castle put the ball in Avdija’s chest after scoring on him, the Blazers’ forward shoved him, Castle shoved him back, and then the two exchanged some heated words after being separated. The officials went with double technicals, and things didn’t escalate, but it’s clear that familiarity is breeding contempt between the two teams. Play of the game Luke Kornet, channeling his inner Wemby with the dunk of the inbounds pass. LUUUUKE OMG 😱📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/AitibJqyXy— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) April 26, 2026 Next game: vs. Trail Blazers on Tuesday The Spurs can end the series with a home win. Tip-off time is 8:30 CT. ...read more read less