San Antonio vs. Minnesota, final score: Spurs can’t keep up with the Wolves on offense and lose 92-106

Superstar Anthony Edwards and his unique offensive excellence led the Minnesota Timberwolves to a commanding first-half lead that they maintained, while the San Antonio Spurs struggled to maintain the pace throughout, save for 33 points in the third period. The Wolves won their sixth game in seven, evening the season series.

Edwards’ ability to get to his spots and convert difficult jumpers in the first and fourth periods kept San Antonio in check while the Spurs put up one of their coldest shot attempts in recent memory. Victor Wembanyama more than capably held up his end of the bargain tonight, but Spurs’ outside shooting (11 of 45 from three) largely let them down for several moments early in the second half.

Observations

• Found this gem in the wayback time machine to Coach Popovich’s first win as Spurs coach 28 years ago. Two things are notable: how tightly Sean Elliott and Greg “Cadillac” Anderson hugged Pop, Mavericks guard Jimmy Jackson’s hard push on David Robinson’s back, and the Admiral’s slow recovery from that contact.
• When I see the two grizzled veteran point guards out there – Chris Paul and Mike Conley, Jr. – I feel middle-aged.
• Julius Randle’s fit seems suspicious – especially the floor spacing and lack of defense.
• Course of the game #1: After Jeremy Sochan impressively blocked Randle at the rim midway through the first round, he fed Wembanyama in the frontcourt, who fired a powerful bench shot and 1 over the bulkier Edwards.
• Course of the game #2: In a sequence midway through the third period – which ended up being the most turbo-charged the Spurs had seen all night – a scoreless Champagnie struggled to get hold of a ball, culminating in a Sochan-to-Wembanyama sequence that went straight a wembanyama followed block and Champagnie’s first basket of the evening.
• Area 51 warning: After a Wembanyama block on Edwards’ three-pointer, the young battery looked for each other in transition in the final minutes of the first half to give the big man free throws.
• Victor Ease: I think he’ll really excel at quickly turning a blocked shot into a fruitful transition opportunity. He got it late in the first half when he hit a Randle floater and Vassell converted a fast-break basket with about four seconds left.
• Harrison Barnes has a good number of 50-50 caroms on offense.
• Julian Champagnie and Devin Vassell nearly put their team out of the game in the first 24 minutes.
• Spurs temporary draft pick Rob Dillingham failed on his first two attempts but played tenacious defense.

Game overview

After San Antonio took a sizable halftime lead from the Wolves, they were hobbled by poor performance in the fourth quarter against Minnesota’s faltering defense and were unable to maintain the momentum needed for a second-half comeback. Minnesota’s supporting cast Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Mike Conley Jr. were able to fend off the Spurs’ run and secure the clear away win.

San Antonio was propelled forward by Wembanyama’s two-way brilliance (20 points, 12 rebounds, 7 blocks and 5 assists) as well as strong performances from veterans Jeremy Sochan (17 points and 15 rebounds) and Barnes (17 points).

Minnesota’s Edwards (26 points and 5 assists) received plenty of perimeter support on both ends from McDaniels (12 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals) and Alexander-Walker (17 points and 2 steals).

After Jacob Tobey took his second jump shot in two minutes, he noted that Edwards “is one of the hardest shots ever.” Wembanyama blocked two attempts from Jaden McDaniels. A wing three from Barnes gave San Antonio its only lead of the long evening, which was quickly answered with a 5-0 run by the Wolves. Edwards continued to knock down shots at everyone in front of him, and the other wingmen followed his example. A competitive start turned into an ice-cold shootout that resulted in a 19-28 deficit for San Antonio.

Paul found Wembanyama for a three-pointer that was the teams’ only points in the first two-plus minutes. Sandro Mamukelashvili found a cutting Wembanyama for a monster slam against Rudy Gobert. Alexander-Walker collected numerous points to keep the Wolves firmly in the lead. Dillingham’s third change brought Minnesota up to 14 points, and the difference was over 10 for the remainder of the second period. Aside from Wembanyama’s magic and Sochan’s hustle and bustle in the team, their teammates gave little effort and Minnesota took a lead of 15 at halftime.

Barnes’ eight-point lead was quickly countered by Minnesota to start the third game. The Spurs collected four offensive rebounds and that resulted in another Barnes corner with three. San Antonio’s 12-1 run over the middle part of the third period went like this, bringing them within three points: Champagnie’s deflection and steal allowed Sochan to find Wembanyama for a fast-break dunk, Wembanyama blocked Edwards’ floater and Champagnie’s first three-pointer of the night, and Barnes sucked up the Wolves’ defense and fed Sochan for a 14-footer. McDaniels and Naz Reid responded with three-pointers to stem the tide. San Antonio went fourth down six after Gobert deflected his second fumble attempt over the rim.

For a Wolves fan’s perspective please visit Canis Hoopus.

San Antonio will once again receive a series of days off before taking on Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, December 19th at 7:00 pm CDT.