Game One of the San Antonio Spurs second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves was a tough, physical contest. Both teams struggled to score for most of the games. The Wolves went on a 14-2 run to build a 9-point lead, the biggest of the game. San Antonio surged back late, but fell just short in a 104-102 loss.
The Timberwolves have now grabbed a 1-0 series lead and stolen home court advantage. That’s important because Minnesota has not lost at home in these playoffs. Despite the loss, the Spurs
are still -360 favorites to win Game Two at home on FanDuel.
San Antonio will need more offense in Game Two. Their two stars, Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox, combined for 21 points on 10-31 shooting on Monday. We’ll start with them for our Game One player grades. As a quick reminder, these grades are based on each player’s on-court performance, going beyond just the stat sheet. A “B” grade represents the average performance for an individual. If a player logs fewer than 5 minutes or plays only in garbage time, their grade will be incomplete.
Victor Wembanyama
40 minutes, 11 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 12 blocks, 3 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5-for-17 shooting, 0-for-8 threes, +5
If you just looked at the box score, you’d think this was one of Wembanyama’s best games of the postseason. He had a triple-double with 12 blocks, the most in any NBA Playoff game. He was great at protecting the rim for most of the game, but in the fourth quarter, the Wolves were able to pull him away from the basket or set Gortat screens on him under the rim, where he couldn’t get to shots. As a result, Minnesota ran a much more efficient offense than San Antonio and ultimately won the game.
The Spurs have to find ways to get Wembanyama the ball in advantageous situations in this series. He did not get many strong looks in the half-court. Most of his possessions were spent at the top of the arc as a screener and passer, rather than coming off screens for jumpers or rolling to the rim for lobs. As a result, Wembanyama never got into a rhythm and had a rare, inefficient shooting night. The counting stats were impressive, but his overall impact on the game was more limited than usual.
Grade: B+
De’Aaron Fox
33 minutes, 10 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 turnovers, 3 fouls, 5-for-14 shooting, 0-for-4 threes, -13
Bring out your pitchforks and torches! Fox had a bad game!
Hopefully, we’ve learned not to overreact to one game. Fox struggled mightily to make an impact on offense when the Spurs needed him most. He racked up turnovers, some of them very bad ones, and couldn’t get a shot to fall. Near the end of the game, he finally started to push the pace and score around the rim. It seems like he doesn’t have the same athletic advantage in this game that he had against Portland in Round One.
Fox is far too gifted for this to continue throughout the series. He started to figure things out late in the game. Perhaps that offensive outburst will continue into Game Two.
Grade: D
Stephon Castle
28 minutes, 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 fouls, 4-for-8 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, +4
Castle will be vital to the Spurs’ success in this series. San Antonio needed his tough defense to match the Wolves’ physicality. He fouled out of the game, but some of those were just about getting caught in a bad situation with two physical players. With Anthony Edwards seemingly healthy enough to make a real impact on the series, Castle will be tasked with slowing him down.
Dylan Harper led the team in scoring, but Castle’s offense was the most impressive to me. He knocked down open spot-up jumpers and was one of the few Spurs who could get to the rim and draw fouls, going 6-8 from the free-throw line. They’ll need him to play more than 28 minutes to compete in this series.
Grade: B+
Julian Champagnie
32 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 7-for-12 shooting, 3-for-7 threes, +7
Champagnie helped the Spurs tremendously with his rebounding down the stretch. He had 3 offensive rebounds, many of them contested, to keep San Antonio alive. That’s why it was fitting that the ball found him with seconds remaining on the clock. If Champagnie’s game-winning three-pointer goes down, we are having a different conversation about this series. It was a great look from the team’s best three-point shooter. He’ll have more chances to redeem himself in the series, as the Spurs will desperately need his floor spacing.
Grade: B+
Devin Vassell
36 minutes, 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover, 4 fouls, 5-for-11 shooting, 3-for-6 threes, +7
Speaking of shooters stretching the floor, Vassell did just that, shooting 3-for-6 from deep on Monday. His shooting gave the Spurs offense a boost. San Antonio could use more mid-range jumpers from Vassell. He wasn’t able to get many of them off due to the Wolves’ length. It felt like those mid-range J’s he usually nails were not available with Rudy Gobert roaming the paint.
Vassell swiped the ball away three times, but his defense may remain an issue in the series. Minnesota went at Vassell when he switched onto Julius Randle. That defensive matchup caused a lot of problems for the Spurs late in the game. Finding out how to deal with Randle while smaller players are on the floor should be a key for San Antonio moving forward.
Grade: B
Dylan Harper
29 minutes, 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 fouls, 7-for-13 shooting, 1-for-4 threes, -4
Harper led the Spurs in scoring on Monday. He and Castle were really the only Spurs guards who could attack the basket in the half-court. His touch around the rim allows him to finish around or through Minnesota’s bigger defenders. Defensively, Harper did an inspired job on Edwards. Harper has the strength and quickness to keep up with the Wolves’ star. I’d like to see more of that matchup as the series progresses.
Grade: B+
Keldon Johnson
24 minutes, 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 fouls, 5-for-10 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, -13
After struggling against Portland, Johnson finally got back to his game of bullying his way to the rim and finishing. He was limited on the boards, and his defense late in the game was not great. He missed key defensive rotations and was toast when he switched onto Edwards. The Spurs need more of the hard-nosed Johnson they saw in the regular season, especially against Minnesota.
Grade: C+
Luke Kornet
8 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 1 foul, 0-for-1 shooting, -7
The Wolves attacked the basket like crazy when Kornet was in the game. He was a liability on both ends in Game One, posting a -7 plus-minus in just 8 minutes. One thing Kornet could afford to add is a push shot in the paint, as so many big men have utilized to score when the defense is on its heels. There were several occasions when Kornet could have had a bucket if he had a floater or a pop-a-shot look in his bag of tricks.
Grade: D
Harrison Barnes
10 minutes, 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block, 1-for-1 shooting, +4
Barnes grabbed three offensive rebounds and did a lot of the little things in his limited minutes. The Spurs might need him in this series as they are forced to play bigger to match up with Minnesota. If that is the case, they’ll need Barnes to hit a hot streak from three, as he’s been cold so far in the playoffs.
Grade: B-
Inactives: Harrison Ingram, David Jones-Garcia, Emanuel Miller
