The San Antonio Spurs once again reclaimed home-court advantage by winning their first road game of the Western Conference Semifinals. It was a tightly contested battle that came down to fourth-quarter heroics. Victor Wembanyama had the best playoff game of his young career, putting up 39 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks on the way to a 115-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Wembanyama’s performance felt like his first “legacy game.” With the game on the line, San Antonio’s face of the franchise
dominated both ends and willed the Spurs to victory. It was an obvious A+ performance.
Wembanyama leads the player grades for Game Three. 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
37 minutes, 39 points, 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 5 blocks, 1 turnover, 5 fouls, 13-for-18 shooting, 3-for-5 threes, +16
Perhaps what was most impressive about Wembanyama’s Game Three performance was the diversity of his impact. He scored in the post, on lobs, got to the rim for finishes with strength and finesse, and hit threes on flare screens. On defense, he guarded on the perimeter, made sharp rotations, and controlled the paint, even when he played with five fouls in the fourth quarter.
He did all of it while playing through the physicality of a playoff matchup. Minnesota went at Wembanyama all night, holding him, clawing at him, pushing and shoving him (even when he was airborne). Wembanyama took an absolute beating, but fought through adversity to pull out a win. He is rising to the occasion in a way not many young players can.
His dominant play is a big reason why the Spurs are -186 favorites to win Game Four on FanDuel.
Grade: A+
De’Aaron Fox
35 minutes, 17 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 7-for-19 shooting, 1-for-5 threes, -2
It was a tale of two halves for Fox. He got going near the end of the second quarter by attacking the basket and finishing in the paint. He carried that momentum into the second half, scoring at opportune times and giving the team a boost during a wild, back-and-forth third quarter. Fox didn’t get a ton of shots to fall, but he made timely buckets that played a big role in the win.
Interestingly, Fox wasn’t on the court for a lot of crunch time. He finally checked when the Wolves were full-court pressing the Spurs and did a nice job taking care of the ball.
Grade: B
Stephon Castle
40 minutes, 13 points, 4 rebounds, 12 assists, 4 turnovers, 3 fouls, 3-for-11 shooting, 1-for-3 threes, +17
Castle had a double-double with an eye-popping 12 assists. He’s been great all season long at pushing the pace in transition, or getting downhill for physical finishes, or passes to open players when the defense collapses. While Castle had an inefficient shooting night, he made up for it by getting to the free-throw line, where he went 6-8.
Castle was a bit loose with the ball, particularly late in the game. To be fair, he faced a ton of defensive pressure on the perimeter. The Wolves were sending multiple big bodies at him late in the game to force turnovers. He’ll need to clean up some of these turnovers as the series goes on.
Grade: B
Julian Champagnie
29 minutes, 6 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 fouls, 2-for-7 shooting, 2-for-6 threes, +5
Champagnie played a slightly different role in Game Three and thrived nonetheless. He only knocked down two of his six three-pointers, but made up for it with good defense and rebounding. Champagnie grabbed 12 boards, 4 of them offensive. One of his biggest plays of the game was an offensive rebound on the break, leading to a huge three by Keldon Johnson. Champagnie also held his own on the perimeter and picked up two steals in the win.
Grade: B
Devin Vassell
36 minutes, 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-for-14 shooting, 1-for-6 threes, +10
Vassell’s three-point shooting struggles continued in Game Three. He is shooting 30.4% from deep in the playoffs, and he only hit one of his six attempts on Friday. A lot of these shots are pretty open. He just hasn’t found the same rhythm that he’s experiencing on his mid-range jumpers. Thankfully, those mid-range jumpers have been money. His pull-up looks really good right now. He had an awesome step-through finish around Rudy Gobert in the first half.
It was interesting that Mitch Johnson elected to make Vassell the primary defender on Anthony Edwards in Game Three. I’m not sure it was the best decision. Edwards had a series-high 32 points. Vassell is at his best playing in the passing lanes off the ball, rather than acting as a stopper guarding the ball.
Grade: B–
Dylan Harper
20 minutes, 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 2-for-6 shooting, 0-for-2 threes, -1
Harper had a much harder time getting to the basket in Game Three. The Wolves want him to shoot mid-range jumpers or tough contested three-pointers. Harper was only able to get one of those tough mid-range shots to go. Despite a lackluster offensive game, Harper remained strong defensively. I love the matchup with him on Edwards. He has the strength, length, and lateral quickness to make him work.
Grade: B-
Keldon Johnson
19 minutes, 11 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 foul, 3-for-7 shooting, 2-for-4 threes, -11
The Spurs generally struggled with over-rotating on defense or missing rotations completely in Game Three. Johnson was a primary culprit. He would overhelp on drives, which led to some open threes, even though Wembanyama was in a solid position in the paint.
He made up for those defensive mistakes with his best three-point shooting game of the playoffs. Johnson’s energy, primarily in transition, has made a difference in the Spurs’ two wins this series.
Grade: B-
Luke Kornet
10 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 block, 3 fouls, 1-for-1 shooting, -9
San Antonio just barely survived the Kornet minutes. He was outclassed by Gobert inside, after playing well against him in Game Two. The bright side was that Wembanyama was so good that he completely negated the point differential when Kornet was in the game.
Grade: C
Harrison Barnes
6 minutes, 1 rebound, 1 steal, +3
Barnes didn’t play much. and didn’t make much of an impact while he was in the game. He did grab a steal in his limited playing time.
Grade: C
Carter Bryant
8 minutes, 6 points, 2 fouls, 2-for-2 shooting, 2-for-2 threes, +7
Bryant hit two huge threes and played some solid defense. Johnson had him guarding Julius Randle, which isn’t the best matchup for him. Bryant is much better at creating havoc on the perimeter with his size, strength, and speed. He’s at a bit of a disadvantage banging with the bigger Randle down low.
Grade: B
Inactives: Harrison Ingram, David Jones-Garcia, Emanuel Miller
