Victor Wembanyama made history in ways no one wants to in San Antonio's Game 4 loss to the Timberwolves.
The San Antonio Spurs night took a turn when star Victor Wembanyama experienced his first career ejection after throwing an elbow that hit the jaw of Minnesota Timberwolves forward Naz Reid in the second quarter, which was upgraded to a flagrant 2 after a video review. It was the excessive contact around the neck that sunk the case for Wembanyama, and he had to exit with 8:39 remaining in the first half to finish with a mere four points and four rebounds in 13 minutes of play.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson stopped short of advocating for Wembanyama’s actions, but he did defend the lack of officiating protection from regular physicality by opponents that may be leading Wemby to move in ways to protect the ball as he was taught. Multiple players spoke postgame about their frustration towards the ejection, including Dylan Harper who thought it to be unintentional and something that contrasted a lack of uncalled fouls for San Antonio.
It culminated in a 114-109 loss for the Spurs that evens the series out 2-2 with now a pivotal Game 5 for the series lead set Tuesday in Texas. They’ll hope that what transpired on Sunday won’t repeat. Wembanyama now holds a record for the earliest ejection of an All-Star in a playoff game since 1997-98, with his four-point output a career low in both the regular season and the playoffs.
To read more about the frustrating call and the defense by coach Johnson, here is the full story from Spurs Roundtable writer Mike Fisher.
The flagrant 2 will now result in a $2k fine with league review for additional discipline, something that coach Johnson would find to be absurd. The team will now try to throw these hard feelings in the rearview and shift focus back to their next home contest.