Coming off a win against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Spurs battled the Minnesota Timberwolves for their final meeting of the season. After a slow first quarter, the Spurs’ offense exploded in the second, outscoring the Wolves 48-22. Holding a 25-point lead, the Wolves responded in the third quarter by outscoring the Spurs 40-27, and trailed the silver and black by 12 entering the fourth. Minnesota’s momentum continued as Anthony Edwards dropped 26 of his 55 points in the fourth quarter alone. Meanwhile, the Spurs combated Edwards with Victor Wembanyama. Around 3:28 remaining, Edwards and Wemby traded clutch buckets multiple times. Anytime Edwards gave the Wolves the lead, Wemby would tie it up. With a two-point lead with a little over a minute remaining, Donte DiVincenzo drained a go-ahead three-pointer to give the Wolves a one-point lead. Wemby responded by splashing a go-ahead mid-range jumper to give the Spurs back the lead. After Wemby blocked Joan Beringer’s shot at the rim, Keldon Johnson nailed a dagger three to give the Spurs a four-point lead with 17 seconds left. Then, things got interesting. After Wemby missed a technical foul free-throw, Edwards drained a stepback three to cut the lead to one. De’Aaron Fox was fouled, made both of his free throws, and fouled Edwards while up by three. Edwards made the first, missed the second, and Julian Champagnie secured the rebound while being fouled.. Just to make things more dramatic, Julian missed both free throws, but Wemby saved the day with a key offensive rebound. After getting fouled, Wemby made the first free-throw, but was called for a lane violation after attempting to miss the second one. Edwards missed a half-court shot, and the Spurs won 126-123.
Victor Wembanyama led the way with 39 points (12-23 FG, 11-14 FT), nine rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. It has been a while since Wemby last played at least 30 minutes in a game, but he played 31 against the Wolves. Milwaukee was just the beginning, but this game has Spurs fans reminiscing on his monster games, especially the season opener versus Dallas. Not only was he dropping buckets from everywhere on the court, but he was dropping CLUTCH buckets. He also had a clutch block and a clutch rebound. Simply put, this man can do everything.
Wemby dime! On the fastbreak, Wemby lasers the ball to Champagnie, who finishes with a two-handed slam! Julian finished with seven points, five rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
Pulling out all the moves! Wemby pulls out a spin move into a eurostep and into a floater! How?!
UNREAL WEMBY SEQUENCE! Late in the second, Wemby goes on a hot streak and drains three straight bombs from three-point land!
UNGUARDABLE! Wemby uses his patience and drives his way into the paint and throws it in over Jaylen Clark!
Here’s another angle!
UNREAL HOOPS SEQUENCE! With Edwards on fire, Wemby responds each time with a bucket of his own!
CLUTCH ON BOTH ENDS! After giving the Spurs the lead back with a mid-range jumper, Wemby blocks Beringer’s reverse layup at the rim!
GAME! Wemby stands above all and grabs the rebound off the missed free throw to seal the game!
Here’s another angle! How do you box him out?!
De’Aaron Fox dropped a double-double: 25 points (10-17 FG, 3-4 FT) and 12 assists to go along with three rebounds and a block. D-Fox splashed shots from everywhere on the court: middies, threes, floaters, layups, and dunks. Since Stephon Castle was dealing with foul trouble, D-Fox assumed the primary guard role and dropped dimes. After being Batman in Sacramento, games like this show he can be extra comfortable being Robin.
Lay it up high! D-Fox drives in on Edwards and lays it up high for the deuce!
Too fast! D-Fox lulls the defense to sleep and drives past Clark for the finish!
Too open! D-Fox catches the pass from Castle, takes a few dribbles, and pulls up for the wide-open middy!
FLIGHT 4 CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF! After DiVincenzo throws the ball to Champagnie, he throws it ahead to Keldon, who throws it ahead to a wide-open D-Fox who finishes with two hands!
After the game, D-Fox was called upon to bang the drum for the Frost Bank Center fans!
Keldon Johnson dropped 20 points (8-14 FG, 3-5 3PT), two assists, a rebound, and a steal. Another KJ game that feeds his 6MOTY campaign. When the Spurs went on a cold streak, KJ went to work. Not only did he go to work, but he also came up clutch for the silver and black. He continues to spark the Frost Bank Center every time he makes a hustle play, and he will continue to be the heart and soul of this team.
K3LDON! KJ knocks down the contested corner three late in the first. Subtle foreshadowing!
K3LDON: CLUTCH EDITION! KJ beats the shot clock buzzer with a three and gives the Spurs a four-point lead with 17 seconds remaining!
Dylan Harper dropped nine points, three rebounds, and three assists. Dyl continues to slash his way to the basket like a veteran guard. In just 21 minutes, he was a combo guard that found guys in the right spots and finished with zero turnovers. He also provided solid defense and was not afraid to go after boards. He still needs to polish his finishing, but he has plenty of time to figure it out.
HARP3R! Dyl uses the Wemby screen to free himself up for the wide-open trey!
P&R to perfection! Dyl finds Luke Kornet cutting to the basket off the pick-and-roll for the easy finish! Luke finished with eight points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal.
Stephon Castle dropped eight points, nine assists, six rebounds, and three steals. Even though Steph struggled from the field, he filled the stat sheet all-around. He dished dimes, grabbed boards, but most of all played solid defense. Besides the three steals, he was tasked with guarding Edwards. While he stayed in front of him, he also ended up fouling out in the fourth with 28 minutes played. Besides turnovers, Steph is still working on playing without fouling, and he knows it’s something he can fix.
Threading the needle! Steph finds a wide-open Luke who is split between the defense for the deuce!
Slippery! Lindy Waters III corrals the pass from going out of bounds, splits defenders, and finishes at the rim!
All in all, this game turned from a blowout into a classic. Albeit the Spurs blew another huge lead to the Wolves, they still found a way to finish the game. Ant’s 55 versus Wemby’s 39 is the type of duel NBA fans dream of. Elite shot-making no matter the defense: It’s like a game of NBA2K broke out with the sliders maxed out. Nonetheless, D-Fox and KJ were instrumental in their roles to help clinch the squad’s first win against Minnesota this season. Hopefully, Devin Vassell is finally back on Monday versus Utah.
Finally, here are the full game highlights.
The Spurs take on the Utah Jazz on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at 4:00 P.M. (CST) on FDSN-SW.
