Wembanyama walked into pressure and turned San Antonio into a fortress

Victor Wembanyama’s first NBA playoff run had not exactly been a bed of roses. True, the Spurs were in the playoffs for the first time since 2019 and had made it beyond the first round for the first time since 2017. But the Frenchman went into Game 2 of the conference semifinals trailing 1-0 after losing the opener to the Timberwolves.

The Wolves had not shown the same strength as the Thunder, still unbeaten in this postseason on the other side of the bracket. Wembanyama had also suffered a minor scare against the Blazers that forced him to miss a game. And opposite him, the wolf’s howl was louder than ever, baying at the full moon, demanding what Minnesota has never had. The Wolves had played at an excellent level against the Nuggets to snatch home-court advantage from the Texans at the first opportunity.

The center had a triple-double in that game with 11 points, 15 rebounds and 12 blocks, setting an all-time playoff record in the last category. But the Wolves won 104-102 and then continued their constant needling in the press room, claiming many of the Frenchman’s blocks should have been called fouls. Some did look that way, but the reality goes further: Chris Finch’s team plays its hand better than anyone. It surprisingly recovered Anthony Edwards when it seemed he would not return at all in the playoffs. Minnesota had reached the last two conference finals in a row and remained unbeaten at Target Center, where it had won all three games in the previous round.

That was a bad omen for the Spurs, who needed to win in Minnesota to take the series. But first they had to avoid a situation that could have turned humiliating: traveling on the road down 2-0, with the series, in that scenario, practically lost.

Spurs crush Timberwolves to level the series

The Spurs won without mercy, 133-95, with a 69-46 run across the second and third quarters that settled everything. The home team even led by 47. The Timberwolves, who suffered the worst playoff defeat in their history, never really engaged with the game. Instead, they seemed content to let it come to them, having already taken home-court advantage in Game 1 and trusting in Target Center, while taking a breather from the incredible physical effort they have been producing day after day.

Edwards again came off the bench and finished with 12 points, zero assists and four turnovers. But that was more or less the ceiling for the visitors: Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle also scored 12, as did Terrence Shannon. Naz Reid, with 11 points and 3-of-4 from three-point range, was around that mark too. Yet nobody was truly plugged into Finch’s plan, with minds already on what comes next rather than what was unfolding. Something that, up to a point, was understandable.

For the Spurs, everything worked. And the scale of the blowout meant nobody had to pile up minutes, including Wembanyama, who always raises questions over his durability. The Frenchman finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks.

He led a group of seven players in double figures, with Stephon Castle standing out on 21 points and 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. They say Gregg Popovich took part in the video session led by Mitch Johnson after Game 1, and perhaps that is why the kind of collaborative basketball the old boss always loved returned: 16-of-39 from three, 41%, with plenty of open looks, the corners used well, the waiting teammate rewarded by the extra pass.

And so the Texans handed out 29 assists, 10 more than their opponents, and flexed in front of their fans to tie the series and stop anyone drawing conclusions too soon. At San Antonio’s AT&T Center. Victor Wembanyama’s fortress.

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San Antonio Spurs

Stats

30 Julian Champagnie
24 Devin Vassell
1 Victor Wembanyama
5 Stephon Castle
4 De'Aaron Fox
40 Harrison Barnes
18 Bismack Biyombo
11 Carter Bryant
2 Dylan Harper
3 Keldon Johnson
7 Luke Kornet
0 Jordan McLaughlin
8 Kelly Olynyk
22 Mason Plumlee
43 Lindy Waters III

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
30 Julian Champagnie	22	12	3	0	3	2	0	2	1	0/0	0/0	4/6	0	1
24 Devin Vassell	21	10	5	1	4	4	0	0	0	2/2	1/3	2/6	0	1
1 Victor Wembanyama	25	19	15	4	11	2	2	1	2	3/3	5/8	2/7	0	1
5 Stephon Castle	24	21	4	1	3	4	5	2	0	9/9	6/9	0/1	0	5
4 De'Aaron Fox	25	16	0	0	0	2	1	2	0	4/5	3/8	2/2	0	1
40 Harrison Barnes	15	12	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	2/2	2/2	2/5	0	3
18 Bismack Biyombo	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	1/2	0/0	0	0
11 Carter Bryant	15	2	2	1	1	2	1	0	0	0/2	1/1	0/2	0	5
2 Dylan Harper	22	11	7	1	6	5	2	2	0	0/0	4/7	1/3	0	2
3 Keldon Johnson	19	9	10	2	8	1	1	0	1	5/8	2/7	0/1	0	4
7 Luke Kornet	13	4	2	0	2	1	0	2	3	2/2	1/1	0/0	0	1
0 Jordan McLaughlin	9	2	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0/0	1/1	0/0	0	1
8 Kelly Olynyk	9	5	1	0	1	2	1	1	0	0/0	1/1	1/2	0	2
22 Mason Plumlee	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
43 Lindy Waters III	8	8	4	2	2	1	1	0	0	0/0	1/1	2/4	0	1

Minnesota Timberwolves

Stats

3 Jaden McDaniels
30 Julius Randle
27 Rudy Gobert
10 Mike Conley
1 Terrence Shannon Jr.
12 Kyle Anderson
19 Joan Beringer
22 Jaylen Clark
13 Ayo Dosunmu
5 Anthony Edwards
8 Bones Hyland
7 Joe Ingles
4 Julian Phillips
11 Naz Reid

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
3 Jaden McDaniels	19	12	3	2	1	4	2	0	1	0/1	6/9	0/1	0	5
30 Julius Randle	27	12	5	1	4	2	5	2	0	4/5	4/8	0/2	0	2
27 Rudy Gobert	28	5	10	4	6	1	4	0	0	3/9	1/4	0/0	0	4
10 Mike Conley	15	3	1	0	1	3	0	1	0	0/0	0/1	1/3	0	1
1 Terrence Shannon Jr.	24	12	5	2	3	1	1	0	0	4/4	4/8	0/4	0	5
12 Kyle Anderson	14	8	3	1	2	4	1	0	0	2/6	3/5	0/1	0	2
19 Joan Beringer	8	7	3	1	2	0	1	0	0	1/2	3/4	0/0	0	0
22 Jaylen Clark	15	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0/0	0/1	1/4	0	1
13 Ayo Dosunmu	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0/0	0/3	0/1	0	0
5 Anthony Edwards	24	12	3	0	3	0	4	0	0	1/2	4/8	1/5	0	1
8 Bones Hyland	10	0	1	0	1	2	1	0	0	0/0	0/2	0/1	0	0
7 Joe Ingles	9	7	2	1	1	0	1	2	0	1/2	0/0	2/3	0	0
4 Julian Phillips	9	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0/0	0/2	1/1	0	1
11 Naz Reid	21	11	7	0	7	0	2	0	0	0/0	1/3	3/4	0	3