The Minnesota Timberwolves capitalized on Victor Wembanyama’s early exit to defeat the San Antonio Spurs 114-109 on Sunday night in Minneapolis, evening their Western Conference second-round playoff series at two wins each.
Anthony Edwards delivered a stellar performance with 36 total points, including a crucial 16-point outburst in the final quarter that helped secure the victory for Minnesota.
The turning point came when Wembanyama received a flagrant 2 foul and automatic ejection during the second quarter. The incident occurred when the Spurs center, while protecting a rebound from two Minnesota defenders, swung his right elbow and struck Naz Reid in the chin with 8:39 remaining in the first half.
Officials reviewed the play before upgrading the initial foul call. Crew chief Zach Zarba explained the decision, stating: “There was windup, impact and follow-through above the neck of an opponent.”
Reid, who absorbed the elbow to his chin, contributed 15 points and nine rebounds coming off the bench for the Timberwolves. Additional scoring support came from Jaden McDaniels with 14 points, Julius Randle with 12, and Rudy Gobert, who recorded a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Ayo Dosunmu chipped in 10 points.
For San Antonio, De’Aaron Fox and reserve Dylan Harper each scored 24 points, while Stephon Castle added 20. Devin Vassell contributed 14 points. Wembanyama’s night was cut short after just 12 minutes, during which he managed four points and four rebounds with no blocks.
“We never expected them just to go away,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch commented. “They won a game in the Portland series without Wembanyama, so they’re very good, very good team.”
Despite losing their star player, the Spurs mounted a strong third-quarter rally, outscoring Minnesota 20-8 to start the period and taking a 76-68 lead after a Vassell basket with 4:33 left in the quarter.
“I thought offensively, we were really doing a lot of good things,” Finch reflected. “We lost our way a little bit, and gave them life.”
San Antonio maintained momentum into the fourth quarter, with Keldon Johnson’s driving layup giving them an 84-80 advantage entering the final period. Fox extended the lead to 94-86 with a three-pointer with 8:51 remaining.
However, Edwards sparked a game-changing 14-5 Minnesota run, personally scoring 12 points during that stretch. He began the surge with a jumper, then added five straight points through a short floater and long three-pointer to cut the deficit to three with 7:10 left. Edwards later sank two free throws with 5:51 remaining to bring Minnesota within 97-95, then connected on a three-pointer 39 seconds later to give the Timberwolves their first lead of the quarter.
Gobert sealed the victory with a powerful dunk that extended Minnesota’s lead to 107-101 with 1:56 remaining.
The Spurs made a late push, with Harper hitting two free throws with 29.1 seconds left and Julian Champagnie adding two more with 20.6 seconds remaining to narrow the gap to 112-109. But Dosunmu responded with two free throws with 9.8 seconds left to close out the win.
“Just small-time plays,” Edwards told reporters when asked about the key to Game 4. “Small-time plays win big-time games. That’s what we needed. Diving on the floor, offensive rebounds and it was a great sub by Finchie for putting in Ayo for that last minute-and-a-half.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson defended his player’s actions while clarifying his stance. “I’m glad he (Wembanyama) took matters into his own hands,” Johnson said. “Not in terms of hitting Naz Reid, I want to be very clear about that. I’m glad Naz Reid is OK and I didn’t want him to elbow him. But [Wemby’s] going to have to protect himself if no one else does for him. And I think it’s disgusting.”
“We had a chance to win,” Johnson added. “We didn’t close it out the way we wanted to. … Minnesota made some plays and finished the game.”
Minnesota shot 44.7% from the field and connected on 10 of 27 three-point attempts. San Antonio made 47.7% of their shots but struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 6 of 26 three-pointers.
The series continues Tuesday night in San Antonio for Game 5.
