San Antonio, Texas, USA : Victor Wembanyama returned in dominant fashion with 27 points and 17 rebounds as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-97 on Tuesday to move within one win of the Western Conference finals.
Wembanyama scored 18 points in a blistering first quarter as San Antonio grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven semifinal series. Game 6 will be played in Minneapolis on Friday, with a deciding Game 7, if necessary, returning to San Antonio on Sunday.
The 21-year-old Frenchman was back on court after being ejected in Game 4 following a flagrant 2 foul for an elbow to Naz Reid during Sunday’s 114-109 defeat.
“Very, very much,” Wembanyama said when asked how eager he was to return.
“I was fresh, feeling good. But honestly, it’s hard to tell if it was just getting fired up. Obviously, I’m going to be excited with butterflies.”
San Antonio led by as many as 18 points in the second quarter before Minnesota rallied to tie the contest at 61-61 early in the third.
The Spurs responded emphatically, closing the quarter on a 30-12 run to take control at 91-73 heading into the final period.
“We went away from what was working, and then defense just cratered,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said.
“A lot of it was just ball contain stuff. Offensively we found stuff that was working, then we just started breaking off plays. That’s on me.”
Keldon Johnson added 21 points off the bench for San Antonio, while De’Aaron Fox scored 18 and Stephon Castle had 17 points. Dylan Harper contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds.
“We played with the appropriate fear, discipline, execution, physicality, poise,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said.
“We needed everybody, because at different moments of the game, different guys stepped up.”
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 20 points, while Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle scored 17 apiece. Ayo Dosunmu finished with 16 points and Reid added 12.
Wembanyama set the tone early, scoring 16 of San Antonio’s first 24 points as the Spurs raced to a 24-9 lead midway through the opening quarter.
Minnesota fought back to within four points by the end of the first period and eventually erased a 21-point deficit early in the third before San Antonio’s decisive surge.
“I don’t see nobody in our locker room that’s worried,” Edwards said.
“Man, it’s another basketball game. So you come out, put your boots on and get ready to go to work.”
