We are almost midway through the season, and tiers are starting to become more defined in the Western Conference. Despite looking relatively pedestrian since the Spurs helped bring them back down to earth from their record-tying start, the Thunder still have a pretty sizable (but not insurmountable) cushion between themselves and the rest of the West. (If only the Spurs’ could have their recent losses to sub-.500 teams back!) Next, there’s the second tier, featuring teams 2-6 that are all very close
to each other in the standings but comfortably ahead of the play-in, followed by the play-in tier and finally the tanking bad tier.
That second tier is where both the Spurs and tonight’s opponents find themselves (although the Spurs are starting to create their own cushion at the top of that tier), with the Minnesota Timberwolves generally meeting expectations for the season while the Spurs have exceeded them considering most level-headed predictions had them more in that third tier. But even though the Spurs have some separation, don’t be fooled. There’s no room to get comfortable, and the Wolves have won 4 of their last 5, while the Spurs have struggled of late while the strength and frequency of the schedule, injuries and offense have let them down lately.
The good news is the Spurs have had a tendency to bring their best selves against better opponents lately, including last night against the Boston Celtics, and they haven’t been phased by road crowds. While the Wolves got the better of them in their fourth quarter of their first match-up back in November, the Spurs will hope to get revenge tonight.
San Antonio Spurs (27-11) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (25-14)
January 11, 2026 | 6:00 PM CT
Watch: FanDuel Sports | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs injuries: Not due until 1 PM
Timberwolves injuries: Not due until 1 PM
What to watch for
Energy Levels
Both teams are on the second night of a back-t0-back (with travel), but both also have their own unique advantage/disadvantage. For the Spurs, they had a two-day break between the Lakers game on Wednesday and Celtics game on Saturday, while the Wolves are playing their third game in four nights. On the other hand, Minnesota’s advantage is they played at noon yesterday and therefore had plenty of time to travel back from relatively nearby Cleveland and have a restful evening, while the Spurs played at 8:00 PM in Boston and traveled in much later.
Ultimately, any rest advantage/disadvantage between the teams may be a wash, but the Spurs’ recent stretch of “two days on, two days off” (three consecutive back-to-backs with travel between all games), has been its own unique challenge, and the players would tell you they’d prefer just alternating days over this. (As a viewer and writer, I’d prefer it too.)
Wemby vs. Gobert
Victor Wembanyama did not play in their first match-up, but it has always been fun watching these two French freak-of-nature frenemies (try to say that fast out loud) go after each other. Despite being often maligned for his offensive limitations, Rudy Gobert is having a bit of a renaissance year for himself, leading the league in field-goal percentage at over 72%, third in rebounds, and in contention for his fifth Defensive Player of the Year award if Wemby fails to qualify. On the other hand, Wemby is working himself back from his second injury of the season. He’s once again doing it in a bench role, so they may not see as much of each other unless this is the game he moves back to the starting lineup, but it still adds an extra level of intrigue to the game.
Still waiting for the offensive rhythm to return
The Spurs have been in an offensive funk ever since their 8-game win streak came to an end, and at this point it’s hard to know when or how it will return. Wemby has been the closest thing to consistent in his three games back from a hyper-extended knee, averaging 22 points off the bench, but the real culprit has been the team’s inability as a whole to hit threes while arguably shooting too many of them, which bogs down the rest of the offense. The Spurs managed to beat the Celtics last night with clutch shooting and defense, but the sooner more players can find consistency and shooters like Harrison Barnes can get out of extended funks, the better.
For the Timberwolves fans’ perspective, visit Canis Hoopus.
You can follow along with game here on the Game Thread, as well as on our X profile (@poundingtherock).
