SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama atoned for his first career ejection with another huge performance, finishing with 27 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks as the San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-97 on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their second-round series.
At 22 years old, Wembanyama is the third-youngest player in NBA history to post that stat line in a playoff game, trailing only Magic Johnson (20) and Luka Doncic (21).
“I was fresh, feeling good,” Wembanyama said. “Honestly, it’s hard to tell. It was just Game 5. Obviously, I’m going to be excited (and) to have butterflies. So, excitement is not something abnormal at this point in the playoffs.”
Keldon Johnson had 21 points, De’Aaron Fox added 18 and Stephon Castle had 17 as San Antonio moved a game away from the Western Conference finals. The Spurs can advance to face Oklahoma City with a victory in Game 6 on Friday in Minneapolis.
Anthony Edwards, who was limited to eight points in the first half, finished with 20 points for Minnesota. Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels added 17 points apiece.
Wembanyama returned after being ejected early in the second quarter of Minnesota’s 114-109 victory Sunday during Game 4 in Minneapolis. Wembanyama received a Flagrant 2 foul after elbowing Naz Reid in the throat.
Both teams continued to hammer each other, with Reid receiving a technical foul for pushing Wembanyama in the back on a Minnesota free throw with 2:24 left in the first half.
“I felt like, to start the game, we knew it was going to be physical,” Castle said. “So, just making that a point of emphasis and trying to keep them off the offensive glass. I feel like we started the game off well and that’s where our runs came from. But obviously they’re a good team. They’re going to go on their own run. So, just try not to hang our head when that does happen and be able to respond and spark another run for ourselves.”
The foul by Reid fired up Wembanyama, not that he needed any additional motivation.
Wembanyama was 6 for 8 from the field and 2 for 3 on 3-pointers in scoring 18 points in the opening quarter.
“I think it’s super important for us the way we start the game, because it sets the tone,” Wembanyama said, “Now the challenge is to do it for 48 minutes.”
The Timberwolves opened the third quarter on a 14-2 run to tie the game at 61 after trailing by 18 points in the first half. Minnesota tipped away three attempted alley-oop passes to Wembanyama before they reached the 7-foot-4 post.
The Spurs recaptured a double-digit lead in the third spurred by Johnson’s block on Rudy Gobert’s attempted dunk followed by his short jumper after bodying Edwards under the rim.
“We went away from what was working,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “Our defense just cratered. We gave up 30 points, I think, in the last six minutes of the third quarter. A lot of it was just ball contain, ball contain stuff.”
San Antonio held its opponent under 100 points for the fifth time in 10 games this postseason.
“I thought we did a good job of having resistance early in the clock,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “They’ve shown as the series has gone on, they’ve tried to play faster at times and they’re tough when they get downhill. I think when we’ve had better starting spots, more connectivity at the start of possessions, I think it’s really helped us be on a string and be organized and connected defensively.”
