Victor Wembanyama Out for Game 3 vs. Blazers Amid Injury, Latest Updates on Spurs Star

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama has been ruled out for Game 3 of the team's first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, the team announced.

Wembanyama "push to play," according to The Athletic's Jared Weiss, but he has yet to clear concussion protocol.

"He was seen at Spurs practice Thursday in a hoodie, walking around and taking close-range shots, and showed notable progression in his activity Friday. He was a full-go in the typical pedestrian shooting drills players do the morning before a game," Weiss wrote. "He did some of his usual pregame warmup routine, sprinting laps before guarding and shooting, but did not do any of the high-contact warmup work he usually does."

ESPN's Shams Charania initially reported that Wembanyama was "hopeful" of joining his teammates for Game 3 after suffering a concussion in a 106-103 loss to the Blazers in Game 2 on Tuesday.

Charania added that Wembanyama's playing status for Game 3 was unclear because he still hadn't satisfied the NBA's concussion protocols. His symptoms haven't worsened, but there are multiple benchmarks he needs to hit before he can suit up:

Wembanyama suffered a concussion after taking a hard fall in the second quarter of Tuesday's loss.

The NBA's Defensive Player of the Year was spinning and driving in the lane but fell to the floor and hit his chin on the court. His eyes closed very briefly before they opened again and medical personnel tended to him. After a few minutes, Wembanyama got up and ran back to the locker room before he was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

The 62-win Spurs need a healthy Wembanyama to reach their title-winning potential. He averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 blocks in his third season, marking the third straight time he led the NBA in stuffs. He dominated in his first playoff game, scoring 35 points on 13-of-21 shooting in a 111-98 victory in Game 1.

Luke Kornet started for Wembanyama in the second half and ultimately played 28 minutes, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds. He averaged 6.5 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 21.0 MPG this season.

San Antonio also has three other big men on the roster in Kelly Olynyk, Bismack Biyombo and Mason Plumlee. That trio did not play Game 2.