Victor Wembanyama On Scoring 35 Points In Playoff Debut: 'The Atmosphere Was Different'

Everybody was ready. The fans were ready. It's probably the most excitement I've seen this year in this arena. In terms of tactics, the sport aspect of it, it was different because we had more time to prepare. Wembanyama finished 13-of-21 from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point range. The Blazers also went 0-11 when Wembanyama was the contesting defender. I thought he was ready, coach Mitch Johnson said. There's an approach that we all have in terms of expectation of a heightened level of preparation, detail, nuance, competitiveness, physicality, everything. There's a real desire for that young man to participate in that. This was his first playoff game, and he has lofty expectations and goals for himself. Deni Avdija lead the Blazers with 30 points. Wembanyama added that he expects the Blazers to bring more physicality to Game 2. Of course, Wembanyama said. It's their identity. It's something to be expected, and it's also to be expected that they'll double up on that in the next games. But we're ready.