Victor Wembanyama stood tall with 39 points and a crucial rebound in the final seconds as the host San Antonio Spurs held on for a 126-123 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
San Antonio snapped a five-game losing streak against the Timberwolves and won despite a career-high 55-point showing by Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards.
The Spurs led by 25 points at halftime after producing their highest-scoring quarter in 39 years. But Edwards’ fadeaway jumper with 3:28 to play put Minnesota on top at 110-108. Wembanyama’s jumper tied the game before Edwards and Wembanyama traded 3-pointers – the latter with 2:45 left – to knot it at 113.
After a back-and-forth exchange over the ensuing two minutes, Wembanyama scored on a jumper to put the Spurs up by a point and then blocked a shot to set up a Keldon Johnson 3-pointer which gave San Antonio a 123-119 lead with 17 seconds to play. Edwards followed with a 3-pointer from the corner with 9.8 seconds left before De’Aaron Fox canned two free throws to push the Spurs’ lead back to three points.
Edwards was fouled but made just one of two free throws, and San Antonio’s Julian Champagnie grabbed the rebound and was fouled but missed both free throws at the other end. Wembanyama corralled the rebound and made one free throw, giving Edwards a final shot from beyond half-court that missed and allowed the Spurs to win their second straight game.
Fox added 25 points and 12 assists for San Antonio, while Johnson had 20 off the bench.
Jaden McDaniels added 23 points for Minnesota, Julius Randle had 17, Donte DiVincenzo scored 11 and Joan Beringer hit for 10 in the loss. The Timberwolves played without center/defensive stopper Rudy Gobert, who sat out with a hip contusion.
The second period belonged to the Spurs in a huge way, with Wembanyama as the chief catalyst. With the game tied at 27, San Antonio roared ahead via a 18-6 run capped by a free throw by Stephon Castle that gave the team a 45-33 lead midway through the quarter. The Spurs carried a 69-44 lead into the break.
San Antonio outscored the Timberwolves 48-22 in the second period. Wembanyama scored 23 points in the first half, with 20 of those coming in the second quarter when he was just two points shy of Minnesota’s output as a team.
Edwards led the Timberwolves with 16 points before halftime, scoring 39 in the second half and 26 in the fourth quarter.
