San Antonio dropped Game 1 of its series with Minnesota, here's how the Spurs can get even in the next matchup.
The San Antonio Spurs saw Game 1 of their series with the Minnesota Timberwolves slip away in front of their home crowd 104-102 on Monday. Now, San Antonio finds itself behind for the first time this postseason.
In a losing effort, Victor Wembanyama made history with 12 blocks, which is the most by any NBA player in a playoff game. However, the superstar left some things to be desired offensively, as he finished with only 11 points.
His low scoring was accented by a poor performance from beyond the arc, where he missed all eight of his 3-point attempts. While an 11-point, 15-rebound, 12-block triple-double is a staggering feat, the Spurs cannot survive with such a small scoring turnout from its leader.
The French phenom was asked about a "silver lining'' from this game. He didn't seem to understand the metaphor.
But, he added of the failure, “It’s on me.”
Outside of Wemby's woes, San Antonio sputtered defensively and allowed several Timberwolves to have impressive outings. The most impressive of these was Anthony Edwards, who threw down 18 points off the bench in a game he was not even expected to play in.
Despite Edwards' valiant effort to return to the court, he was not alone in doing damage. Julius Randle led the Timberwolves with 21 points on the night alongside 10 rebounds in 41 minutes of action. Four other Wolves reached double figures in an uncharacteristic display from one of the league's top defensive squads.
Moving away from what the Spurs did wrong, there were many bright spots in the hotly contested opening matchup. In the midst of Wemby's quiet outing, rookie Dylan Harper continued to come alive. He tallied a team-high 18 points in 29 minutes off the bench.
Much like Wembanyama, none of the Spurs had terrible nights although several did not look as explosive as they did in the last series against Portland. For example, De'Aaron Fox hit double-digits with 10 points, but it was a serious downgrade from the 21 he had to close out the Trail Blazers.
Edwards' last-second addition can account for some of the confusion on defense but the Spurs' offense output is nearly unexplainable. If they cannot muster a more potent showing in Game 2, they are in serious danger of heading to Minnesota in a dire 0-2 hole.
Even in arguably their worst performance this postseason, San Antonio had the ball with a chance to escape with a win before a would-be Julian Champagnie game-winner bounced off the rim.
The series is far from over but the disappointment of getting outclassed by a lower-seeded team on its own home court should be a wake-up call for the Spurs moving forward.
San Antonio needs to find itself offensively, especially Wembanyama, and get back to playing the style that surged them past Portland after the Trail Blazers were hanging around. In the previous round, San Antonio had a similar outcome in Game 2 before ripping off three straight wins.
It's a race to four wins not just one, thankfully for the Spurs, but another poor performance could cost them a chance at an NBA title after working hard to restore San Antonio to a championship contender.