Scoot Henderson poured in 31 points as the Portland Trail Blazers capitalized on an injury to Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, rallying past San Antonio 106-103 to knot their Western Conference playoff series at one game apiece.
Wembanyama went down face-first after being fouled by Jrue Holiday in the second quarter, his jaw striking the floor. He was placed in the NBA’s concussion protocol, making it possible the 7-foot-4 forward could miss multiple games ahead of Game 3 on Friday in the best-of-seven series.
Under league rules, players entering the concussion protocol must observe at least 48 hours of rest and recovery and then clear a series of symptom checks and neurological tests before being approved to return. Final clearance requires a team physician in consultation with the league’s concussion protocol director.
“He has a concussion. He’s in the protocol. We’ll take the proper and appropriate steps,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “The protocol is the protocol. We’ll just follow it as everyone else does and plan accordingly.”
San Antonio, the No. 2 seed, appeared able to absorb the loss when it built a 14-point edge early in the fourth quarter, but their offense went cold late. Portland held the Spurs without a field goal for the last three and a half minutes, closing on an 11-2 run. Robert Williams III converted an alley-oop with 12 seconds remaining to give Portland a 104-101 lead after a feed from Deni Avdija.
Elsewhere Tuesday, the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers stunned the Houston Rockets 101-94 to take a surprising 2-0 lead in their first-round series. LeBron James finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Marcus Smart added 25 points and seven assists as the Lakers overcame the absences of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves with a balanced team effort led by the 41-year-old veteran.
Kevin Durant returned for Houston and scored 23 points, but only three of those came in the second half as Los Angeles’ defense tightened. Luke Kennard contributed 23 points for the Lakers, who maintained a slender fourth-quarter advantage. Smart found James on a breakaway dunk with 55 seconds left, and Kennard knocked down two free throws in the closing seconds to seal the win.
In Philadelphia, the 76ers beat the Boston Celtics 111-97 to even their series at 1-1. VJ Edgecombe scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds despite playing through pain after an early hard fall, hitting six of Philadelphia’s 19 three-pointers. Boston trimmed a seven-point deficit at the start of the fourth to 91-89, but an 11-0 run pushed the 76ers ahead 102-89 with just over four minutes remaining; the Celtics then pulled their starters with a little more than a minute left.
Watch the 2026 NBA playoffs live on Sky Sports, continuing with Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns on Sky Sports Main Event at 3am on Thursday.