Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs had plenty of cause to celebrate in Game 2 against the Wolves.
San Antonio had two sizable factors in its favor heading into Game 2 of its conference semifinal series Wednesday against Minnesota.
One was the Spurs’ own track record. This precocious and ambitious team had not lost two consecutive games since way back in January, essentially the middle of the regular season. The Spurs lost by a single point against the Timberwolves at Target Center on Jan. 11, then got roughed up two night later by 21 points at Oklahoma City.
Since then, right through the 133-95 blowout victory of the Wolves to even this series at 1-1, the Spurs have gone 40-9 – which is the equivalent of a 69-13 season record. Young or not, Victor Wembanyama and his teammates already have developed a resiliency that can serve well a team with championship dreams.
The other factor that worked to the Spurs’ advantage was the Timberwolves’ maddening habit – maddening for fans and coaches, at least – of inconsistency, blurred focus and fluctuating effort. Only each player knows for sure how locked in he was, but by all appearances the Wolves looked from tipoff Wednesday like a team that already had checked the 1-1 split into the cargo hold and was ready for the charter flight home.
Here are four takeaways from the lopsided result, heading toward Game 3 Friday (9:30 ET, Prime Video):
1. Spurs’ overwhelming start
San Antonio left no doubt as to its inclination and determination from the game clock’s first tick. It bothered the Wolves into turnovers on their first three possessions.
It guarded more aggressively, farther out onto the floor.
With Wembanyama having already established his paint presence with 12 blocks in the opener, that area was coned off to Minnesota all night.
“Intensity,” Wembanyama said. “Just from the start of the game.”
Then there was a glaring disparity in pace. During a second-quarter stretch in which the Spurs pumped their lead from 43-28 to 59-34, they pounced on every Wolves missed shot, mistake with the ball and even a couple of baskets. The race to the other end that ensued again and again somehow looked downhill for the Spurs and uphill for the Wolves.
That period was nothing but runs of various lengths for San Antonio: 35-18, 26-13, 15-3 depending how you sliced them.
That left Minnesota with its lowest-scoring first half all year.
San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson leaned into his coach-ese to sum up his team’s relentless start, dropped several big C’s – consistency, connectivity, communication – along with this understatement: “Appropriate urgency.”
Said guard Stephon Castle: “I don’t think we were too shell-shocked coming out of Game 1, we knew why we lost. And we addressed it.”
2. Wemby and Fox lead, teammates follow
Both Wembanyama and point guard De’Aaron Fox all but apologized to the world after Game 1, each of them smarting from the defeat and sub-par performances.
Fox had as many turnovers as assists (6), while Wembanyama scored only 11 points. Together, they shot 10-for-31, including 0-for-12 on 3-pointers.
Johnson acknowledged that he spoke briefly to Fox, mostly to remind him how essential he is in setting a tone and temperament for their team.
“He has the strongest ripple effect on our team, when he’s in attack mode and pushing the pace,” Johnson said. “Also when he picks up at the point of attack, he’s the catalyst for us. At the start of games, if you go back and watch our best moments, he’s usually right in the middle of that.”
Sure enough, San Antonio’s shortest and tallest starters got and kept their team flowing Wednesday. Fox got his work done in three quarters – 16 points, two assists, two steals, a plus-23 – while Wembanyama made a token appearance in the fourth before finishing with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
3. Nobody likes getting ‘punked’
What else was ever-candid Minnesota coach Chris Finch supposed to say after his squad suffered the biggest playoff beatdown in franchise history? His postgame words to the team were short and sour.
“I just told ‘em we just got punked,” Finch said. They just kicked our butt in every aspect of the game. Offensively, defensively, it didn’t matter. We just didn’t respond very well.”
Pick whichever aspect you want and the Wolves came out on the raw end. Twenty-two turnovers, turned into 19 Spurs points. A 55-43 rebounding disadvantage. Poor shooting (39.8%) and poorer defending (the Spurs hit 50% overall). Rancid showing at the foul line (16-for-31). A 22-point gap in paint scoring and a 24-point shortfall in fast-break points.
Minnesota often looked as if it never saw a double-team before, given how badly the Wolves coped with that defensive tactic. Invariably, Anthony Edwards would respond a dribble late, then find center Rudy Gobert as his only outlet.
Then Gobert searched slowly for a better target for a pass. The gears grinded like that for three quarters, by which time the game was decided.
“You’ve got to get off of [the ball],” Finch said. “Use it as a catalyst for ball movement, which is what it should be. I think we dribbled in tough spots We were late getting off of it. I thought our spacing around it wasn’t really good, and our decision-making when the ball came out of it wasn’t good either. It was kind of a chain reaction.”
Finch’s breakdown conjured an old joke: Other than that, coach, how did you like the performance?
4. Minnesota’s turn to adjust
By the time Game 3 begins, the Spurs will feel as if they’ve regained the form of their torrid second half of the regular season and mastery over Portland in the first round. Minnesota will have showered off the stain of Game 2 and be at home, where they beat the formidable Denver Nuggets three times by 17, 16 and 12 points a week or two ago.
Finch made it clear that fixing Game 2’s gasping, sputtering offense would provide a boost to the Wolves’ defense as well. Better shots, more careful ballhandling and proper spacing would slow San Antonio’s rush downcourt even when the Minnesota shots don’t go in.
Extra reps at the free throw line before Friday’s tipoff? Couldn’t hurt.
The loss and extra time till then might encourage Finch to restore Edwards to the starting lineup. The Spurs only led 13-11 when he checked in from the bench at 6:24 of the first quarter, but the Wolves’ shooting star appeared to force his initial shots. He was 0-for-5 by the time he hit his first field goal with 30 seconds left in the period.
The Wolves will continue to monitor his knees, the injuries that sidelined Edwards late in the Denver series and had Finch subbing him in so far in this one.
Also, guard Ayo Dosunmu played in Game 2 after missing the opener with a sore right calf, but lasted only 7:03 before sitting down with a sort right heel.
Most of Minnesota’s pain Wednesday, however, came on the court.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
