Victor Wembanyama made a statement in his return to the court, putting up 27 points and hauling in 17 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs dominated the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-97 on Tuesday night, giving San Antonio a 3-2 advantage in their Western Conference semifinal matchup.
The series now shifts to Minneapolis for Game 6 on Friday, with a potential decisive Game 7 scheduled for Sunday back in San Antonio if needed.
Wembanyama’s explosive performance came after his early exit from Game 4 on Sunday, when he was tossed from the contest in the second quarter following a flagrant 2 foul for an elbow that caught Naz Reid in the face. The incident resulted in an automatic ejection after video review, and the Spurs went on to lose that game 114-109.
“Very, very much,” Wembanyama responded when questioned about his eagerness to get back on the floor for Game 5. “I mean, I was fresh, feeling good. But honestly, it’s hard to tell if it’s just, it’s just, it was just getting fired up. Obviously, I’m going to be excited with butterflies, you know. So excitement is not something abnormal.”
San Antonio established control early, building an 18-point cushion in the second quarter before cooling off and taking a 12-point edge into the locker room at halftime. Minnesota managed to battle back and even things up at 61-61 early in the third period, but the Spurs responded with authority, outscoring the Timberwolves 30-12 over the remainder of the quarter to enter the fourth with a commanding 91-73 lead.
“We went away from what was working, and then, you know, defense just cratered,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch explained. “In the last six minutes of the third quarter, lot of it was just ball contain stuff. And, you know, offensively found stuff that was working, then we just started breaking off plays, you know. And that’s my job. I gotta get us back on track. That’s on me.”
The fourth quarter saw San Antonio extend their advantage to 20 points before Minnesota mounted a brief 8-0 comeback attempt, cutting the deficit to 93-81 with just over nine minutes left. However, the Timberwolves could get no closer than 11 points for the remainder of the contest.
Supporting Wembanyama’s stellar effort, Keldon Johnson contributed 21 points coming off the bench for the Spurs. De’Aaron Fox chipped in 18 points, while Stephon Castle added 17. Devin Vassell and Dylan Harper each scored 12 points, with Harper also collecting 10 rebounds for a double-double.
“We played with the appropriate fear, discipline, execution, physicality, poise,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson noted. “And I thought we had it from an array of people tonight, and it was really good to see. We needed everybody, because at different moments of the game, different guys stepped up.”
For Minnesota, Anthony Edwards paced the scoring with 20 points. Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle each tallied 17 points, Ayo Dosunmu added 16, and Naz Reid finished with 12.
Wembanyama set the tone immediately, scoring 16 of San Antonio’s first 24 points as the Spurs jumped out to a 24-9 lead with 6:17 remaining in the opening quarter. Minnesota weathered that early assault, with Reid’s driving layup in the final seconds cutting the gap to 34-30 after one period.
“We knew it was going to be physical, so just making that a point of emphasis and trying to keep them off the offensive glass,” Castle said. “I thought we started the game off well, and that’s where our runs came from. But obviously, they’re a good team, you know, they’re going to go on their own run.”
San Antonio opened the second quarter with nine straight points, highlighted by Castle’s three-point play, pushing their lead to 43-30. The Spurs stretched their margin to 58-40 following a spectacular Wembanyama alley-oop dunk with 3:24 left in the half, but then went cold, missing their final eight field goal attempts of the period and allowing Minnesota to close within 59-47 at intermission.
Wembanyama already had a double-double by halftime, recording 21 points and 11 rebounds in just two quarters of work. Fox had contributed 12 points for San Antonio before the break.
“I think one thing, the one word I’d like to use, just ‘mature,’” Mitch Johnson said of Wembanyama. “There’s a lot that’s happened in the last 48 hours, in the last game, and I think how that young man came out tonight and played in a variety of ways, in a variety of situations, not just in terms of his production, was extremely mature and then defensively, start to finish.”
Dosunmu led Minnesota’s first-half scoring with nine points, while Reid and Edwards each contributed eight.
The Timberwolves continued their momentum to start the third quarter, knotting the score at 61-61 with 7:51 on the clock when Dosunmu’s layup capped a 14-2 surge.
“I don’t see nobody in our locker room that (is) worried at the end of the day,” Edwards said. “Man, it’s another basketball game. So you come out, put your boots on and get ready to go to work.”
