Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs have been smothering Wolves star Anthony Edwards and his Minnesota teammates.
We’ve got another week to figure it out if the Spurs and Timberwolves can stretch out their Western Conference semifinal series to maximum length.
In the meantime, “Game 4” is tasty enough. If a best-of-seven series is at 3-0, the fourth game can put the trailing team out of its misery and allow the rest of us to move on.
But if it’s 2-1 the way this series is, with the Spurs in front, Game 4 Sunday (7:30 ET, NBC) is as pivotal as an uncharted crossroads with no turning back.
If San Antonio is as greedy as it wants to be at Minneapolis’ Target Center, it will have a commanding lead that assures advancement about 95% of the time. It would set up the Spurs nicely for what could be an epic showdown in the West with OKC.
But if the Wolves fire back to make this 2-2, the pressure mounts for the Spurs not to lose Game 5. Minnesota is assured of another home game and the prospects of the series going seven improve considerably.
After two straight trips to the West finals, Minnesota sees the next round as its rightful turf. The Spurs are closing the experience gap with the veteran Wolves with each passing game and aren’t inclined to defer now.
Here are three things to watch for Sunday:
1. Quicker relief valve for Edwards
Having Victor Wembanyama near the basket while his teammates are throwing defensive double-teams at Anthony Edwards early in possessions has led many times to sluggish, indecisive offense for the Wolves.
One reason? Donte DiVincenzo, Edward’s backcourt stalwart all season, is out for the foreseeable future after rupturing his right Achilles tendon in the Denver series.
DiVincenzo never was shy about immediately making a defense pay by firing from 3-point range. He led his team with 244 3-pointers in the regular season, launching eight per game.
It was the surest way to pull some of that help away from Edwards, the Wolves No. 1 threat. With DiVincenzo out, Edwards at times – especially in the first two games – was slower to move the ball. And when he did, the recipient didn’t swiftly make the Spurs pay.
Victor Wembanyama scores a playoff career-high 39 points, along with 15 rebounds and five blocks in a Game 3 win.
Wembanyama’s long presence and Wandering Albatross wingspan (look it up) makes the basket at San Antonio’s end seem closed even when it isn’t.
Wemby’s teams seem less vulnerable in their rotations. Minnesota needs to inflict immediate pain a few times to soften the focus on Edwards, but with the exception of veteran Mike Conley, none of the other starters is a quick-trigger shooter.
Something has to give, because the Wolves’ offense has been looking the way Edwards’ achy knees might feel. After scoring 115.6 points per 100 possessions in the regular season and 112.8 in the first round against the Nuggets, it is at 100.0 through these three games. That would have ranked last in the league by a wide margin during the season.
2. Time for role players to … roll
We all know the cliché by now: Role players play better at home in the playoffs. The Wolves need some of that before they head back on the road for Game 5 Tuesday.
Naz Reid’s 18 points on Friday don’t quite qualify because Reid is so essential to the rotation – he played longer minutes in Game 3 than three of the starters. Ayo Dosunmu was helpful with 11 points, seven boards and five assists. Terrence Shannon Jr. was an odd plus-19 while scoring only five points on 2-for-6 shooting in more than 28 minutes.
Playing only eight is a tough way to go, especially with games every other day. A spate of instant offense from shooter Bones Hyland or some disruption from guard Jaylen Clark could be the X-factor the Wolves need to even things up.
3. Savor young Wembanyama
Skeptics, longtime NBA followers and certainly fans of rival teams can be excused if they’ve been slow to climb aboard the Wembanyama band wagon through the young man’s first three NBA seasons. It took San Antonio until this season, after all, to reach the playoffs – 22 and 34 victories seemed like small strides for someone his size.
Besides, pushback is natural when you feel something is being fast-tracked, the way the league has touted Wembanyama since before his arrival in 2023 as its present and future all at once.
But it’s time to reconsider or open one’s mind. The 22-year-old showed in so many ways Friday, at both ends, in his 40-minute performance that he’s far more than just a lucky gene pool participant.
Growing to (at least?) 7-foot-4 – Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels said he seems “10 feet tall” – is a wonderful advantage.
But you don’t develop the shooting touch or precise footwork Wembanyama shows without putting in those 10,000 hours Malcom Gladwell made famous.
You don’t learn to set up teammates the way he routinely does or orchestrate a play in real time as Wemby did for his dagger 3-pointer in the fourth quarter without studying the game and learning everybody’s job. And you don’t stay grounded, unflappable and above the hype without keeping your priorities in order and staying more Tim Duncan than Draymond Green in yammering.
Wembanyama’s Game 3 – 39 points, 15 rebounds, five blocks, clutch plays and navigating the final six minutes with five fouls – was an all-timer. To get that already suggests so much more to come.
When the Spurs center is tucking away a fourth MVP award or flaunting a third championship ring, some French resistance might be acceptable.
Better right now to go along for and enjoy the ride.
Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
