The Timberwolves know what they're up against, and they still think they can win.
The Minnesota Timberwolves do not need anyone to tell them how good Victor Wembanyama is.
They watched him put up 27 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocks on Tuesday night as the San Antonio Spurs ran them off the floor 126-97 in Game 5 to grab a 3-2 series lead.
Ayo Dosunmu, sitting next to Anthony Edwards at the postgame podium, was blunt about what the 49-33 Timberwolves are facing against the 62-20 Spurs.
"He's one of the best players in the league," Dosunmu said. "I always say at playoff time, the best players rise to the occasion. At any given moment, they can go off. Wemby, he came out with that mindset, he made some easy ones and the basket looks big for him. When you're a good player, at any given moment you can break out."
Wembanyama Has Controlled This Series
Dosunmu is not saying anything the rest of the league does not already see.
Victor Wembanyama has wrecked Minnesota on both ends since this series tipped off.
He set a playoff record with 12 blocks in Game 1, went for 39 and 15 rebounds in Game 3, then came back from his Game 4 ejection on Tuesday like nothing happened.
ESPN noted that Wembanyama has more blocks in this series (22) than the Timberwolves have made field goals when he contests their shot (19).
The Spurs owned a 68-36 edge in points in the paint in Game 5 alone.
Minnesota has tried to answer with physicality.
Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid have all taken turns getting into Wembanyama's body, and it paid off in Game 4 when Wemby lost his cool and got tossed for elbowing Reid.
The problem is that approach cuts both ways.
McDaniels has picked up five fouls in three of the five games, and after Game 5, Wembanyama said he felt Minnesota's "rage baiting" was part of their strategy.
He did not take the bait this time, and the scoreboard made that obvious.
Dosunmu Trying to Get Going
Ayo Dosunmu has been part of that physical approach himself.
He got in Wembanyama's face before the opening tip with some trash talk, and he wound up being arguably Minnesota's best player on Tuesday with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.
That is a nice stat line, but it is nowhere near the player who averaged 21.8 points on 60.9 percent shooting against Denver in round one.
A calf issue kept Dosunmu out of Game 1, a heel injury cut his Game 2 short after 10 minutes, and even after sliding into the starting lineup for Games 4 and 5, the scoring has not come as easy as it did against the Nuggets.
Game 6 is Friday at Target Center, and the Wolves are not going to run from it.
They just have to figure out how to slow Wembanyama down for 48 minutes without fouling themselves out of the game in the process.