De’Aaron Fox scored 21 points and had nine assists to power the San Antonio Spurs to a 114-97 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday and into the second round of the NBA Playoffs.

The Spurs posted all four of their wins in the five-game series by at least 12 points as they advanced in the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Victor Wembanyama scored 17 points (on 5-for-7 field goal shooting) and had 14 rebounds for the Spurs, who led by 28 points in the second quarter. Deni Avdija led the Blazers with 22 points. He was 7-for-15 from the field, including 1-for-6 on 3-pointers.

The Blazers’ lone win in the series, 106-103 in Game 2, came when Wembanyama left with a concussion.

The Spurs will play the winner of the Nuggets-Timberwolves series, which Minnesota leads 3-2.

Here are more takeaways from the game.

Spurs have the look of a title favorite

The Spurs went through the second half of the regular season constantly dominating opponents. They cruised to so many easy wins that it begged the question of whether they could really win consistently when the temperature turns up in the playoffs.

The conclusion to this series with Portland showed that, yes, those regular-season shows of force carry over to the playoffs when the moment calls for it. They came out in Game 5 with the swag of a true contender. Wembanyama was screaming at the crowd that was in a pervasive uproar, the team attacked with force and, outside of a brief stretch early in the fourth quarter, never let their foot off the gas.

It became clear Wembanyama was ready before the game when he threw down the through-the-legs dunks he often misses in warmups. He had a different juice coming into this game. But the way he managed the game showed how much he can handle the eye of the storm. He took just seven shots in this game, controlling it instead as a choreographer off the ball and a terror protecting the rim on the other end. He looked more in control of this game than he did all series — a premonition that he is realizing his potential in real time.

When it looked like the game was potentially getting too close for comfort late, Wembanyama shut the door by spiking a Deni Avdija floater over the backboard. Yes — over the backboard. It was the perfect reminder that Wembanyama changes the game when he puts his stamp on it.

Wembanyama and the Spurs look ready for whoever comes their way in the second round. A decimated Wolves squad? A resurgent Nuggets? The Spurs showed in this series that they have the answers to solve just about any problem, especially when Wembanyama owns the rim. — Jared Weiss, Spurs writer

Where was Shaedon Sharpe?

With their season on the line, the Trail Blazers’ second-leading scorer during the regular season was glued to the bench. Sharpe, who averaged 20.8 points per game this season, watched as his team whittled what was once a 28-point Spurs lead to as few as eight in the fourth quarter. Trail Blazers coach Tiago Splitter instead went with Vit Krejći, a midseason acquisition who appeared in 19 games for Portland before the start of postseason.

Sharpe finished the game with five points on 2-of-5 shooting in six minutes, part of a disappointing series for the 22-year-old wing who inked a $90 million contract extension with the Trail Blazers in October.

The Trail Blazers struggled on offense in their season-ending loss to the Spurs. They shot 35.1 percent from the field and 23.4 percent from 3. Starting guards Jrue Holiday and Scoot Henderson combined to score 13 points on 5-of-20 shooting. Portland needed much more from both of them —as well as Sharpe — to have any hope of extending the series.

Splitter suggested before the game that he might change his starting lineup but ultimately stuck with the five that he’d been starting for the entire series. It was particularly noticeable how little trust Splitter had in Sharpe, who played more than 15 minutes in a game only once in San Antonio’s five-game series victory.

The Trail Blazers, who were the only team ranked in the bottom-10 in offense in the regular season to make the playoffs, should get a healthy Damian Lillard back next season. But questions still remain about their shot creation and scoring ability — areas where Sharpe is supposed to help. — Christian Clark, NBA staff writer