The San Antonio Spurs didn’t need Victor Wembanyama to block 12 shots Tuesday night to derail the Minnesota Timberwolves’ offense.
Wembanyama had two blocks — 10 fewer than he had in Game 1 — and was one of seven Spurs players to score in double figures in a 133-95 Game 2 victory against the Timberwolves in their Western Conference semifinal series at Frost Bank Center. San Antonio stretched its lead to as many as 47 points on the way to leveling the series at one game apiece.
The Spurs held the Timberwolves to 29.8 percent shooting in the first half (including 13.3 percent on 3-pointers) in building a 24-point halftime lead. Wembanyama scored 19 points and had 15 rebounds. Stephon Castle led the Spurs with 21 points.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards again came off the bench and finished with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels and Terrence Shannon Jr. also had 12 points for the Timberwolves, who now prepare to host the Spurs in Game 3 Friday night.
Here are some key takeaways from the Spurs’ dominant win:
Everything in the Spurs’ favor
The Spurs crushed Game 2 easily — as the Wolves had a horrible shooting night — regaining their footing in what should still be a battle of a series.
Coach Mitch Johnson must have known the Spurs needed to get the De’Aaron Fox-Victor Wembanyama pick-and-roll going more after reviewing Game 1. The opening five minutes of the Game 2 win had the action on repeat, establishing the two All-Stars at the center of the offense a game after their empty shooting nights let the team down.
These downhill actions gave the Spurs the edge. Their hounding defense and Johnson’s decision to aggressively trap Anthony Edwards blew the game wide open, as the Spurs let the Wolves take open 3s, and Minnesota missed almost all of them.
Wednesday’s game was a reminder of how unstoppable the Spurs are when they can play uptempo on offense and their guards lock in defensively in the half court. They have enough shooters where somebody will get hot at some point — Julian Champagnie hit four consecutive 3s in the third quarter to turn this into a blowout — but they are at their best when they are forcing misses and getting deflections. They went to a 10-man rotation with Carter Bryant back, which seemed to help the energy stay high across the board.
Fox bounced back from his rough first game, finishing with 16 points and only one turnover (he had 10 points and six turnovers in Game 1). It wasn’t just that he was shooting better and used his floater game, but his hands on defense were crucial to getting transition in rhythm, and he had a different comfort level throughout the game.
One of the biggest victories of Wednesday was Wembanyama playing only 26 minutes after having a season-high 40 in Game 1, so he should be fresh for Friday’s Game 3. — Jared Weiss
Wolves get split, but at what cost?
The Timberwolves did what they needed to do in San Antonio, getting a split to wrestle home-court advantage in the series away from the 62-win Spurs. But they failed miserably at their main goal of wanting to put even more pressure on the young Spurs in Game 2.
The Wolves were so bad offensively Wednesday night that they were never really in the game after the first quarter. The anemic performance breathed even more confidence into the Spurs, who looked rattled in Game 1. They turned it over 22 times, made only 9 of 30 (30 percent) from 3 and lost Ayo Dosunmu to a right heel injury in the first half.
The Timberwolves trailed by 30 points midway through the third quarter and were a step or two behind San Antonio all night long. Jaden McDaniels was in foul trouble for most of the night, and Anthony Edwards couldn’t do anything after he was the inspirational leader in Game 1.
This was the kind of emphatic victory the Spurs needed. Now, they will go to Minnesota with all of the swagger on their side. All season long, the Wolves have relied on their resilience to bounce back from embarrassing defeats. They will need more of it than ever for Game 3.
The Wolves can take heart in the next two games being at Target Center, where the crowds propelled them to a stirring first-round series victory over the Denver Nuggets. Will it be loud enough Friday night to wake up their offense and shake the Spurs? — Jon Krawczynski
