The San Antonio Spurs are heading to the Western Conference finals after delivering a dominant performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves, winning 139-109 in Game 6 on Friday night in Minneapolis to close out the semifinal series.
San Antonio will now square off against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, with the defending champions hosting Game 1 of the best-of-seven series on Monday. The Spurs enter as the second seed in the matchup.
During the regular season, these teams faced each other five times, including a meeting in the NBA Cup semifinals, with San Antonio taking four of those five contests.
However, Stephon Castle, who led all scorers with 32 points in the decisive game, emphasized that past results won’t matter in the upcoming series.
“We’re not even thinking about that right now. The games ahead are a totally different game,” Castle explained during his postgame interview on the court. “They’re rolling right now. They’ve won eight straight. It’s going to be tough to knock them off, but we’re pretty confident we can do it.”
The Spurs shot exceptionally well in their series-clinching victory, connecting on 55.7% of their field goal attempts and 47.4% from three-point range, leaving little doubt about the outcome against Minnesota.
Castle set the tone early, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc and converting a three-point play during a 14-point opening quarter that helped San Antonio build an 11-point advantage. The visitors then completely took control by opening the second quarter with a 20-0 scoring run.
Victor Wembanyama contributed seven of his 19 points during that decisive stretch, helping create a commanding 56-27 lead just five minutes into the second period.
“Our energy and attention to detail was probably the best it’s been all series,” Castle noted. “When we’re playing like that on defense, it makes offense for us real easy.”
The Timberwolves, who reached the Western Conference finals in each of the previous two seasons, battled back to cut the deficit to 74-61 by halftime. But Minnesota couldn’t match San Antonio’s three-point shooting and never mounted a serious comeback threat in the second half.
Following the loss, Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who managed 24 points despite struggling with his shot at 9-for-26, acknowledged San Antonio’s superiority.
“Tip my hat to them,” Edwards said at his media availability. “They’re just a better team.”
The three-point line proved decisive, with Castle hitting 5-of-7 attempts and De’Aaron Fox going 3-for-3 as the Spurs outscored their hosts 54-36 from deep. San Antonio made 18 of 38 three-point attempts (47.4%) while Minnesota managed just 12 of 34 (35.3%).
Castle’s 32-point effort fell just one point short of his 33-point performance in Game 3 against Portland during the first round. He also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds as the Spurs controlled the boards 60-29.
Fox contributed 21 points and tied for the game high with nine assists, while Wembanyama added six rebounds and three blocks to his 19 points.
Julian Champagnie added 18 points for San Antonio, with Dylan Harper scoring 15 and Devin Vassell chipping in 11. This marks the Spurs’ first playoff appearance since 2019 and their first conference finals berth in that span.
“The words conference finals are unreal,” Wembanyama shared with the Prime Video broadcast team after the victory. “It’s something I’ve heard my whole life and now we’re in it and it’s kinda unreal. But it’s just basketball and we know what we have to do.”
For the sixth-seeded Timberwolves, who upset third-seeded Denver in the opening round, Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 21 points and Naz Reid added 18. Jaden McDaniels contributed 13 points and Ayo Dosunmu had 10, while also dishing out nine assists.
Minnesota’s Julius Randle struggled significantly, making just 1-of-8 shots for three points, while Rudy Gobert failed to score and managed only three rebounds in 22 minutes of play.
