For a while, Game 3 looked like it might become one of those wild Minnesota comeback nights; where the building starts shaking, Anthony Edwards starts hunting, and the other team suddenly realizes the Target Center has teeth.
Then Victor Wembanyama reminded everyone that sometimes the monster in the movie is 7-foot-4, shoots threes, blocks shots, and ruins the ending.
The San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-108 on Friday night, taking a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series behind a spectacular Wembanyama performance: 39 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks on 13-of-18 shooting. He was efficient, enormous and inconvenient in every possible direction, which is becoming the basic Wembanyama playoff experience.
@opencourtVictor Wembanyama was INSANE in Game 3! He finished with 39 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks! 🤯😤
San Antonio started fast, watched Minnesota claw back, and still had enough poise to finish the job. The Spurs built a big first-quarter lead, saw the Wolves tie it by halftime, then survived the second-half pressure that usually eats young teams alive. De’Aaron Fox added 17 points, while Stephon Castle delivered 13 points and 12 assists, giving San Antonio guard play that turns Wembanyama from a cheat code into a full operating system.
Minnesota did not go quietly. Edwards finished with 32 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Naz Reid added 18, Jaden McDaniels scored 17, and the Wolves kept throwing themselves back into the game.
But the fourth quarter belonged to Wembanyama. He scored 16 in the final period, turning every Spurs possession into a question Minnesota did not have the answer key for. When the Wolves got close, he was there. When they attacked the rim, he was there. When the game needed a final gravitational pull, he provided it.
That is the terrifying part for the rest of the league. The Spurs are young enough to make mistakes, but already talented enough to survive them. Wembanyama is young enough to still be learning playoff basketball, but already good enough to bend it around himself.
