The Timberwolves defeat the Spurs 114-109 in Game 4 to even the series at 2-2.
When Victor Wembanyama got disqualified for slamming his right elbow into Naz Reid’s neck, knocking the Minnesota big man for a loop and a Flagrant 2 foul in the second quarter of Sunday’s Game 4 loss, his night was over.
The Spurs center lasted just 12:29 and left nearly 33 minutes of game time on the table. Up 36-34 at the time of his indiscretion, San Antonio got outscored 80-73 the rest of the way, the Timberwolves pulling even in the series at 2-2.
The 7-foot-4 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year turned in one of the shortest healthy postseason performances ever compared to some legends and Hall of Famers with whom he might be compared. Here’s a list:
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 10 minutes
Abdul-Jabbar was 42, in his final season, when he got into early foul trouble in the clincher against a Phoenix team his Lakers swept in the Western Conference Finals. - Bill Russell: 20 minutes
Russell had suffered an ankle injury in Game 3 of the 1958 NBA Finals, missed Games 4 and 5, then logged just 20 minutes vs. St. Louis in the series finale. Bob Pettit led the Hawks to their only championship with 50 points and 19 rebounds that day. - LeBron James: 24 minutes
Foul trouble, 2-of-10 shooting and Indiana’s Lance Stephenson blowing in James’ ear made for the Miami star’s briefest postseason performance in Game 5 of the 2014 East Finals. - Michael Jordan: 29 minutes
The Bulls essentially won their 1993 playoff opener vs. Atlanta in three quarters, leading 95-65 en route to a 114-90 victory. Jordan scored 35 points before sitting out the rest of the way. - Wilt Chamberlain: 34 minutes
He was 34 and the Bucks were blowing out the Lakers in Game 4 of the 1971 West Finals. This was Chamberlain’s briefest appearance of the four in which he logged fewer than 40 minutes; he topped 40 in his other 156 playoff efforts. - Did someone say Shaquille O’Neal? Not a fair comparison.
O’Neal had consecutive outings of 8:29 and 3:31 in the last two playoff games of his career in 2011 when he was making cameos as Boston’s third center behind Jermaine O’Neal and Glen Davis. For his career, Shaq averaged 37.5 minutes in 216 playoff games. - Wembanyama’s big-man frat brothers in San Antonio, David Robinson and Tim Duncan, played shorter minutes once each:
- Robinson was 36 when he played just 7:11 in the Spurs’ rout of Seattle in the opener of their 2002 first round.
- Duncan was 40 and participating in the final series of his career when he played 12:06 in Game 4 of the West semifinals against OKC.
So there’s some history for you. Current events, however, suggest that Wembanyama needs to stick around a lot longer in Game 5 on Tuesday (8 ET, NBC/Peacock) if his team hopes to stay in control against the Timberwolves.
Here are three things to watch for:
1. Tenacious play from Wembanyama
There are several options for the Spurs’ All-Star center in responding to his premature and emotional exit Sunday. He can suck it up and take the pounding he and his team believe Minnesota’s been dishing to diminish his effectiveness. He can respond to the physical torment in kind – which didn’t go so well in Game 4.
Or Wembanyama can channel any hard feelings into his play at both ends to exact his retribution. That seems to be the most necessary response because he and the Spurs have little wiggle room now. Would they really want to risk going back to Minneapolis down 3-2? The Wolves are two victories away from their third consecutive Western Conference Finals appearance. The Spurs are blazing this trail for the first time.
2. Reid keeps on ticking
The elbow to the neck knocked down Naz Reid, but didn’t lay him out. Nor did the apparent right ankle sprain he suffered with 9:02 left in the fourth quarter when Spurs center Luke Kornet went down with him in a tumble.
Instead, the multi-dimensional 6-foot-9 Reid shook them off to score 15 points, including six down the stretch with a big offensive rebound and a slick assist to Rudy Gobert.
He had a bum shoulder even before the playoffs began, but he’s having the best of his four postseasons (12.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 26.1 mpg). In doing so, Reid is taking some heat off Julius Randle, who is having one of his least efficient at 40.8% shooting, including 28.6% on 3s.
“He’s a warrior,” Randle said of Reid. “Every time he’s out there, he’s going to battle. For him to [take those hits] and continue to make plays throughout the game, it’s big for us. We needed every single one of them.”
3. Cleaning up the problem shots
Each team is struggling with an aspect of its shooting. The Spurs have struggled from deep, shooting just 32.8% on 3-pointers (44-for-134). That’s a decline from the regular season, when their 35.9% had them in the middle of the pack, and even more so from the first round. San Antonio shooters were even better in the first round at 41.8%.
Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell, Dylan Harper and Keldon Johnson are a combined 22-for-79, 27.8%.
The Wolves have done their scatter-shooting from the foul line, missing 29 of 95 freebies so far. That’s 69.5% accuracy, worse than their regular-season rate of 75.2% that ranked 29th. Can’t give points away in a series in which you’re outscored 459-421, despite the 2-2 status.
* * *
Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
