The San Antonio Spurs defended home court in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals, cruising to a dominating win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of their Western Conference showdown, 126-97. The Spurs, after losing Victor Wembanyama to an ejection in Game 4, came out of the gate swinging, led by Wembanyama.
Seemingly playing with newfound anger and aggression following his ejection, Wembanyama led the way with an efficient 27 points and 17 rebounds. The Wolves, meanwhile, enjoyed 20 points from Anthony Edwards, although they came up well short.
Even though Wembanyama stuffed the stat sheet, the Spurs were well-rounded, with six players finishing in double digits, and the team as a whole shot 52.8 percent from the floor but only 34.4 percent from 3-point range.
Spurs Overcome Injuries to Topple Wolves
Minnesota entered the series with its fair share of injuries, with Anthony Edwards, Ayo Dosunmu, and Donte DiVincenzo all listed on the report. Heading into Game 5, however, Edwards and Dosunmu were healthy, and both De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper were listed as questionable.
Harper would finish with a cool 12 points and ten rebounds off the bench, and Fox had his best game of the series so far, scoring 18 points despite dealing with an ankle injury.
As the Spurs went mostly cold from deep, they managed to get downhill and attack the paint and midrange. With a backcourt core of Harper, Fox, and Stephon Castle--who offered 17 points of his own--the Spurs are one of the better downhill attacking teams in the league, and even with Rudy Gobert in the paint, they could still get to their spots.
Further highlighting their interior dominance, the Spurs outrebounded the Timberwolves 60-45. The Spurs were the second-best rebounding team in the NBA this season, but allowed Gobert, Naz Reid, and Julius Randle to dominate the glass in previous games.
In front of their home fans, for the second game of this series, the Spurs took a dominating win. The series will head back to the Twin Cities on Friday, in what could be a decisive Game 6. After holding the Wolves' stars to lackluster performances, the wind may be out of Minnesota's sails, and the Spurs should hopefully secure a win, advancing to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.