April 29 (UPI) -- Victor Wembanyama said he is "hungry for even better matchups" after the San Antonio Spurs closed out the Portland Trail Blazers with a Game 5 playoff win.
The NBA MVP finalist totaled 17 points, 14 rebounds, six blocks and three assists to help the second-seeded Spurs beat the No. 7 Blazers 114-95 on Tuesday in San Antonio. With the victory, the Spurs won their first playoff series since 2017.
"That was just one example of how a series can go, and that's a good way to start the playoffs," Wembanyama told reporters. "We gained experience and I'm still hungry for even better matchups."
All-Star guard De'Aaron Fox registered 21 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter. He also chipped in nine assists for the Spurs, who outshot their foes 54.7% to 35.1%.
"I had a good fourth quarter and we tried to put them away," Fox said.
The Spurs held a 40% to 23.4% edge in 3-point shooting, led 43-38 in rebounding and never trailed. They led by as many as 28 points to cruise to the 4-1 series victory at Frost Bank Center. They will host the No. 3 Denver Nuggets or No. 6 Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of a best-of-seven game Western Conference semifinals series.
The Timberwolves lead that series 3-1. Game 5 will be Thursday in Minneapolis.
"We have a lot of room to improve," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "We have a lot of things we can get better at, but we are ready to step up to the plate and swing. That's a fun thing to be a part of."
Spurs forward Julian Champagnie scored 11 points in the first quarter. The Spurs started the game with a 17-4 run and outscored the visitors 36-24 over the first 12 minutes. They held a 29-21 scoring advantage in the second quarter, when they made 11 of 15 shots (73.3%).
The Spurs made just 26.3% (5 of 19) of their shots in the third quarter, but still outscored the Blazers 21-20 in the frame to carry an 86-65 edge into the fourth.
Fox made 6 of 8 shot attempts down the stretch to keep the Spurs comfortable. Champagnie totaled 19 points in the win. Spurs guards Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle and Devin Vassell scored 17, 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Blazers forward Deni Avdija totaled a game-high 22 points in the loss.
The Timberwolves (3-2) will host the Nuggets (2-3) in Game 6 of their first-round series at 9:30 p.m. EDT Thursday at Target Center. Game 7, if necessary, will be Saturday in Denver.