SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama’s competitive fire burns bright whether he’s playing chess, drawing, or shooting hoops. After San Antonio’s narrow defeat in the opening game of their Western Conference semifinal against Minnesota, that competitive drive reached new heights.
The towering All-Star channeled his frustration into a dominant performance Wednesday evening, leading the Spurs to a crushing 133-95 victory over the Timberwolves that leveled their playoff series at one game each.
Even though Wembanyama recorded 11 points, 15 rebounds and an NBA playoff record 12 blocked shots in Monday’s 104-102 defeat, the 7-foot-4 center felt responsible for the loss and knew he had to elevate his game, particularly on offense.
Did anger and frustration fuel his desire to return to action for the second matchup? Without question.
“There always is,” Wembanyama explained. “In the playoffs, magnify that.”
The result was what Minnesota head coach Chris Finch described as a thorough beating in front of a packed, energized home crowd.
Minnesota managed just 35 first-half points while connecting on only 7 of 24 field goal attempts and a dismal 2 of 15 three-point shots.
The Timberwolves finished the contest shooting 40% from the floor and 30% beyond the arc while turning the ball over 22 times. San Antonio controlled the paint 58-36, dominated the boards 55-43, and swatted away nine shots compared to Minnesota’s two blocks.
“We got beat in every way possible, it’s as simple as that,” Timberwolves forward Julius Randle acknowledged. “There’s not really much to say from this game. They outhustled us, out-physicaled us, executed, played better defensively, more energy. They just beat us in every way in this game. We’ve got to come back in the next game and be better.”
The series shifts to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday, with Game 4 scheduled for Sunday at Target Center.
Both teams cleared their benches with 10 minutes left on the clock Wednesday, as only the final margin remained in question.
San Antonio’s 38-point triumph surpassed Minnesota’s previous worst playoff loss of 30 points to the Los Angeles Lakers on April 29, 2003.
“I know this team’s capable of doing all of this,” Wembanyama stated. “To be honest, I’m expecting this kind of response from myself, from my teammates. So, I’m not surprised by any means and I’m just going to keep working so we approach more games like we did tonight.”
Following Monday’s collapse when they surrendered a nine-point fourth-quarter advantage, both Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox accepted responsibility for the narrow defeat.
The All-Star pair managed just 21 combined points in the series opener, going a combined 0-for-12 from three-point range with Wembanyama alone missing eight attempts.
“They acknowledged it, them being the leaders on our team,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle noted. “Coming out of Game 1, I mean, it’s going to happen. You’re going to have bad shooting nights, but I mean, we have nothing but confidence in those two. So, I expect them to play well the rest of the series like they did tonight.”
Wembanyama established his presence immediately in Game 2, tallying seven points on 3-of-4 shooting early on.
Though the Spurs misfired on their opening three attempts, Wembanyama followed up the third miss by soaring through the lane and hammering home a powerful right-handed slam to get San Antonio on the scoreboard.
The French sensation contributed 14 points and nine rebounds in the opening half while anchoring a defensive performance that held Minnesota to 35 points, the lowest first-half total by a San Antonio playoff opponent since Memphis scored 31 in 2013.
“I just think we respond well to adversity,” Castle observed. “I think we’ve done that all year. I mean, I don’t think we were too shell shocked coming out of Game 1. I think we knew why we lost Game 1 and we addressed it right away. And I feel like that’s what carried us through tonight.”
