The Minnesota Timberwolves came into Wednesday night’s Game 2 of their Western Conference Semifinals series against the San Antonio Spurs with a chance to get greedy. After taking Game 1 104-102, the Wolves had the opportunity to take a commanding 2-0 series lead before even playing a game at Target Center.
Instead, the Timberwolves never gave themselves a chance.
The Wolves came out of the gates playing an incredibly undisciplined basketball. They turned the ball over on their first three possessions
of the game and never found their composure from there.
From the start, it was a complete turnaround from the first game of the series. The Timberwolves lacked ball movement, took terrible shots, and continued to turn the ball over at an unsustainable rate.
Somehow, the Wolves only trailed 24-17 after the first quarter. The game didn’t stay close for long, as after Jaden McDaniels picked up his third foul early in the second quarter, the game fell apart for Minnesota on both sides of the ball.
The Timberwolves finished the first half with 35 points, their lowest of the entire season, regular season or playoffs. They went 14-47 from the field, 2-15 from beyond the arc, and turned the ball over a total of 11 times.
On the other end, the Wolves gave up 34 points in the paint alone and trailed by 24 points going into the halftime break.
The second half wasn’t any more friendly for Minnesota as the Spurs got dunk after dunk following countless Timberwolves turnovers. The Wolves never mounted any sort of comeback, and by early in the fourth quarter, the benches were in for both teams as the Wolves fell 133-95 in Game 2.
The Wolves had five players in double-figures with no player scoring more than 12 points. Anthony Edwards had an especially poor night as he never looked fully healthy or engaged with the game. He finished with 12 points while missing eight of his 13 shots to go with four turnovers. The Wolves lost the 24 minutes Edwards was on the court by a team-worst 33 points.
Edwards was far from the only player who performed poorly, as not a single player had a quality performance as the team finished with a staggering 22 turnovers while shooting less than 40 percent from the field.
The Spurs were led by Stephon Castle’s 21 points, with Wembanyama and Fox having bounce-back games after poor performances in Game 1. Wemby put up 19 points and 15 rebounds, while Fox scored 16 points on only ten shots.
Following their Game 1 victory, the Timberwolves deservedly received a ton of praise nationally. With a shorthanded roster, they dismantled Nikola Jokić and the Denver Nuggets, and, for at least one game, were doing the same to Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.
While losing this game is far from a death knell, there is only so much margin for error against a team of the quality of this Spurs squad. Rather than putting their foot on the gas pedal, Minnesota played like a team that had accomplished its goal and appeared content bringing the series back home tied 1-1.
In their previous two postseason runs, Minnesota has thrived when it’s been the underdog and has often let go of the rope when they start to receive recognition for its positive play. It’s impossible to truly know if that was the case in this one. Regardless, the stark difference in the Wolves’ play over the last two games stands out.
The Spurs, unlike the Nuggets, responding with a quality performance should not come as a surprise. They won 62 games for a reason. Now, it’s on the Timberwolves to do the same after getting embarrassed tonight.
Up Next
The series now shifts to Minnesota, where the Timberwolves are 3-0 this postseason. Game 3 against the Spurs on Friday begins at 8:30 PM CT and will air on Amazon Prime.
