In this magical postseason run, the Spurs capped off a gritty second round with a victory that was extremely impressive. Of course, the only reward San Antonio has earned through this achievement is the opportunity to face one of the most statistically dominant teams in NBA history (albeit one they’ve enjoyed much success against), but there will be plenty of time to discuss that matchup in the days ahead. In the meantime, let’s dive in to this game’s WILD box score:
Note: Now that we’ve moved into
the postseason, the reference period used for grading changes from the set of regular season games since 2012-2013 to the set of postseason games since 2012-2013. Unless otherwise noted below, this set DOES include play-in games. As of the end of May 15, 2026, this group include 1,189 games.
Factors that decided the game
- Unbelievably, Minnesota enjoyed a MASSIVE advantage in the turnover battle, with San Antonio having 11 more that the Timberwolves.
- However, the Spurs’ domination of the glass was nearly unprecedented, as the Silver and Black recorded 31 more rebounds than Minnesota.
- In fairness, that huge TRB differential was almost entirely generated by defensive rebounds, and those were available to the Spurs in abundance because the Timberwolves had a dreadful shooting night.
- Despite taking 18 fewer shots, the Spurs made nine more due to a FG% margin of +17.95 percentage points.
- San Antonio also made six more threes, largely due to a +12.07 percentage-point edge in 3P%.
- On top of everything else, the Spurs enjoyed advantages in volume (+6 FTA) and efficiency (+4.23 percentage points) from the charity stripe. Consequently, San Antonio widened their lead by +6 through free throws.
Rare Box Score Stats
- This box score is BONKERS. One way to tells is that the winner’s (i.e., the Spurs’) grades were average to exceptional in 14 of 17 box score stats, with 12 of those 14 being well above average and four being truly excellent. At the same time, San Antonio was dreadful in the remaining three areas.
- Let’s start with the things that are UNIQUE to this contest in the 1,189 postseason games played since 2012-2013:
- Timberwolves: No one else has lost by 30+ points while having no more than five turnovers.
- Timberwolves: No other team has lost by 30+ points with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 5:1 or better. Previously a team with a ratio that good had never lost by more than 15.
- Spurs: No other team has won by 30+ while having a turnover differential of +11 or more. Prior to this game, the highest margin of victory for a winner with a turnover differential at least this bad was 23 points.
- Spurs: No other winner has logged a DRB margin of +28 or more.
- Spurs: No other winner has had a TRB margin better than +25 while earning an ORB margin of +3 or worse.
- Spurs: No other team has won by 30+ points with a FGA differential of -18 or worse.
- Spurs: No other team has earned a FGM margin of +9 or better while having a FGA differential of – 18 or worse.
- Ok, let’s turn our attention to the stuff is that – while still extremely rare – is not completely unique in the last 14 postseasons. The odds of everything listed below happening have been no better than 1-in-99 games during the reference period:
- There has been only one other case in which a winner has recorded a TRB margin of +31 or better. That occasion was a 102-79 Washington Wizards victory over Indiana on May 13, 2014.
- This is just the fifth time that a winner has had 34+ assists and lost the assist-to-turnover ratio battle.
- Only six other winners have recorded a block differential of +11 or better. Hilariously, Game 1 of this series (in which Wemby alone had 12 blocks) is NOT one of these six cases (the Spurs’ block margin in that game was a paltry +9).
- This is just the 11th time that a winner has recorded FG%, 3P%, and FT% values as good or better than 55.68%, 47.37%, and 85.19%, respectively.
- This game marked the 12th case in which winner has a turnover differential of +11 or worse.
What are Team Graded Box Scores?
Very briefly, these box scores grade winner-loser differentials for basic box score statistics, with the grade being based on the winning team’s differential relative to other NBA winners during a defined reference period. Think of it like a report card for understanding how a given winner performed relative to other winners. The reference period used runs from the start of the 2012-2013 season to the latest date of play, including only games in the same season category (i.e., regular season and playoff games are not compared to each other).
Data Source: The underlying data used to create these box scores was collected from Basketball Reference. In all cases, the data are collected the morning after the game is played. Although rare, postgame statistical revisions after data collection do occur and may affect the results after the fact.
