Dylan Harper scores a playoff career-high 27 points, including 22 in the second half, as the Spurs win Game 3.
Sympathy for the opponent in the NBA playoffs? Hardly. That’s just the nature of the game.
No team is going to feel too badly for the San Antonio Spurs who played Game 3 without third-year star Victor Wembanyama, sidelined by a concussion sustained in Game 2.
And the Spurs don’t have time to feel sorry for themselves. Not now. Not with so much at stake.
So, they went out and just played. Played through rough stretches, through Jrue Holiday’s great game for the Portland Trail Blazers and through a Portland home crowd anticipating a victory.
With Wembanyama watching the game from the bench in a vibrant multi-colored shirt-jac, the Spurs surprised Portland and took a 2-1 series lead with a 120-108 victory in Game 3 of their first-round Western Conference playoff matchup.
Here are four takeaways from Game 4 is Sunday in Portland (3:30 ET, ESPN).
1. Dylan Harper lifts Spurs
San Antonio rookie Dylan Harper, the No. 2 draft pick last June, was phenomenal, scoring 22 of his 27 points in the second half – 12 in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth.
He scored inside and out – 4-for-5 on 3-pointers, 5-for-7 in the paint and his driving one-handed dunk was part of a 27-15 Spurs run to end the game.
Harper’s second-half scoring helped San Antonio eliminate a 15-point third-quarter deficit. Portland led 82-67 with 5:09 left in the third quarter, and nearly 12 minutes of game time later, the Spurs were up 108-96.
The 20-year-old Harper is the second-youngest player to score 20 or more points off the bench in a playoff game – only behind an 18-year-old Kobe Bryant.
2. Castle puts mark on victory
Stephon Castle finishes with a team-high 33 points in the Spurs’ Game 3 victory.
Look at some of the stellar performances by the league’s young players in the playoffs. Spurs guard Stephon Castle, the 2025 Kia Rookie of the Year, scored a game-high 33 points on 18 shots. He was 10-for-11 on free throws and had 11 points in the fourth quarter during San Antonio’s takeover.
Castle has showed improvement in each playoff game – 17 points on 4-for-13 shooting in Game 1, 18 points on 7-for-20 shooting in Game 2 and when the Spurs needed players to compensate for Wembanyama’s absence, he delivered a 30-plus point performance.
Starting backcourt partner De’Aaron Fox was steady with 18 points, six assists and four rebounds. Also, rookie Carter Bryant’s stat line won’t tell the story of his impact, but his three points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks were vital – he was a plus-17 in 23 minutes.
3. Holiday, Henderson produce again for Blazers
Jrue Holiday racks up 29 points in defeat for the Trail Blazers in Game 3.
The guard play in this series has been impressive. Portland’s Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson combined for 50 points and 10-for-19 on 3s – 29 points for Holiday and 21 for Henderson.
Holiday, who won titles with Milwaukee and Boston, also had six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
4. Wembanyama ruled out for Game 3
Spurs All-Star and 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama missed Game 3 as he recovers from a concussion. Wembanyama, who is also one of three finalists for this season’s Kia MVP, is in the league’s concussion protocol and was not cleared to play.
“Obviously, there’s a lot that goes into that, but he’s doing well and progressing,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said.
Wembanyama sustained the concussion in a hard fall in the second quarter of Portland’s Game 2 victory. He hit his head and face on the court and left the game.
Johnson declined to speculate about Wembanyama’s availability for Game 4, citing a process that requires meeting incremental steps of exertion, no signs of a concussion and clearance from a doctor and the league’s director of the concussion policy.
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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