The Spurs started strong and finished weak tonight, as they had opportunities to put the game away after taking big leads at various points throughout the game, including a 16-0 lead to start the game and a 19 point lead in the third quarter. Every time the Spurs would get some breathing room, they would let up, and it didn’t help that the Spurs shooting woes continued in the clutch portion of the game. Victor Wembanyama outplayed Rudy Gobert, but late in the game, the Timberwolves put Julius Randle
on him, and his physical defense definitely bothered the young Frenchman, as he also struggled with foul trouble. The Spurs couldn’t hit shots or hold onto the ball, as the physical Timberwolves took back the game with a late surge that had the home fans rocking the arena in Minnesota.
On an off night for Anthony Edwards (although he woke up during the Wolves’ fourth quarter comeback), most of the damage was done by guys like Donte DiVencenzo, Naz Reid, and Bones Hyland. The Timberwolves took their first lead of the game with a little over two minutes left, and while the Spurs had some shots to win it, they couldn’t make the final shot, and lost by one point in a game that seemed under control for most of the night. It was a tough loss, and a little discouraging as the Spurs prepare for their rematch with the Thunder on Tuesday night.
Observations
- Wembanyama was back in the starting lineup. Sean talked in the pregame show about how sometimes Victor speeds up his game because he knows he’s just going to have limited minutes to make contributions. Getting back into the starting lineup might help him be a little calmer and play a more measured game.
- Three back to backs to start off the year is crazy. I want to know what the schedule makers were smoking when they set that up.
- Chris Finch missed the game with an illness, but Coach Micah Nori didn’t anticipate any changes to the plan.
- The Spurs ran out to a quick 11-0 lead as the Timberwolves seemed to be using the Boston baskets to start the game and missed their first 5 shots, needing a quick timeout. It took a while after the timeout, as the Spurs scored 5 more as they held the T-Wolves scoreless for almost 5 minutes. Anthony Edwards finally took the lid off the basket to make the score 16-2. They went on a 9-2 run to to quickly cut the lead in half.
- The Spurs kind of lost focus when Wembanyama sat and allowed the Wolves to get back into the game but hit six three point shots in the first quarter and led 31-24 after the first 12 minutes.
- The Timberwolves shot more free throws in the first quarter than the Celtics did in the entire game.
- The Spurs went cold in the second quarter and Anthony Edwards pulled Minnesota to within one point halfway through the quarter at 36-35. The good guys outscored the Timberwolves 19-7 for the rest of the quarter to lead 55-42 at the half, with Victor doing most of the heavy lifting for the Silver and Black.
- Victor started the second half and played a four minute stretch to start the quarter and dominated the game a the Spurs pulled out to an 18 point lead. As expected, the lead began to erode with Victor sat, with Donte DiVicenzo making some nice plays for the home team, but they held a 15 point lead when Vic came back into the game late in the third. Naz Reid took advantage of some poor perimeter defense to a trio of triples as the Spurs led 85-71 after three. It seemed like if the Spurs had played a little more cleanly, they could have led by 20+ and put the game away early, but a lead is a lead.
- With Victor sitting to start the fourth, the Spurs went cold and the Wolves took advantage to cut the lead to just seven points at 85-78 with a little more than 8 minutes left in the game. Mitch decided it was long enough, and Victor went back into the game.
- Rudy Gobert committed a flagrant foul on Wembanyama almost immediately with a reckless closeout on a three point shot, and added a technical foul to it by complaining about the call, which was super obvious. Victor hit all four free throws to bring the Spurs lead back to double digits, but some terrific defense from Julius Randle (you don’t hear that often) kept the Spurs from extending the lead more on that possession.
- The Wolves got physical in the last phase of the game, and the Spurs had trouble with the pressure, as they cut the Spurs lead to two points at 95-93. Randle finally tied things up with 3:27 on the clock with an and one where he got fouled by Kornet. They finally took the lead with an Edwards midi at 100-98.
- I don’t know why there is video replay, when it’s apparent that the officials just get things wrong after video review as often as they get things wrong on the court.
- Barnes and Fox hit clutch shots to give the Spurs a 103-102 lead with 34 seconds left, Anthony Edwards retook the lead with with a shot off the elbow while Julius Randle held Steph Castle out of the play. The Spurs had a couple of shots at the basket to retake the lead as time ran out, but they didn’t fall, and the home crowd was happy as the Timberwolves got a 104-103 comeback win.
After starting the season with three consecutive back-to-back series separated with two days between them, the Spurs will have one day off before they travel to Oklahoma City for their fourth game with the Thunder. They’ve won all three previous contests, and staying unbeaten against the top team in the league wouldn’t just be nice, it would be very useful in their chase for the top seed in the west, and locking up home court throughout the playoffs, if you want to dream big, and I know you do. The Spurs will finish up their season series with the Thunder with a fifth [!] game on February 4 in San Antonio, finishing up the series before the All Star Break.
