PORTLAND, Ore. -- San Antonio veteran guard Chris Paul was ejected from the Spurs' game at Portland on Friday night after getting his second technical foul.
Paul left the game when he earned his second technical with 1:03 left in the first quarter, just 11 seconds after his first.
Paul, who was averaging 10.2 points per game and 8.5 assists, had five points, four rebounds and four assists when he was ejected. The Spurs went on to beat the Blazers 118-116.
"It's just the togetherness of the team," Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson said of Paul's leadership and the team's togetherness after he got ejected. "Those guys had his back tonight, and they stepped up, and it was a heck of an effort from a lot of different people."
The Blazers led by as many as 17 points in the final period, but San Antonio tied the game at 109 on a Jeremy Sochan free throw before Julian Champagnie's 3-pointer gave the Spurs the lead with 2:08 left. Jerami Grant made a layup to tie the game at 116 with 6.1 seconds to go, but he fouled Victor Wembanyama, who sealed the Spurs' win by making two free throws with 2.1 seconds left.
Wembanyama finished with 28 points.
The Spurs went into the game with just 11 players available, before Paul's ejection took them down to just 10. Stephon Castle, averaging 12.1 points, was out for the first time this season because of a bruised left shoulder.
Also unavailable were Zach Collins (bruised lower back), Keldon Johnson (left calf strain) and Tre Jones (sprained left shoulder).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.