Defense will be a major focus when the Minnesota Timberwolves travel to face the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night in a Western Conference matchup influenced by both teams’ performances in the NBA Cup.
Neither team made it to the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament and played against the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively, on Friday, ahead of their game on Sunday.
The Timberwolves arrive in San Antonio after a 97-87 victory at home against the short-handed Lakers. Anthony Edwards, despite dealing with an ankle injury, scored 23 points. Julius Randle added 21 points, and Minnesota forced a season-high 22 turnovers from Los Angeles.
The Timberwolves never trailed in the game and secured their fifth win in the last six games, even though they only shot 40.2 percent from the field. Their defense has been the key to their success.
“If we get more wins and less Ls, it’s a good trade-off — I’ll take it,” said Minnesota center Rudy Gobert, who finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds in the win. “It might be a little uglier to watch, but at the end of the day, it’s who we are.”
The Spurs, on the other hand, made a strong comeback from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 118-116. Victor Wembanyama led the way with 28 points, including two clutch free throws with 2.4 seconds left. San Antonio, which went on a 24-4 run in the final period, also saw Devin Vassell score 23 points off the bench, with five Spurs players reaching double figures.
The Spurs played most of the game without veteran point guard Chris Paul, who was ejected in the first quarter. They were already missing injured players Stephon Castle (shoulder), Keldon Johnson (calf), Zach Collins (back), and Tre Jones (shoulder), but still managed to win their second straight game after a three-game losing streak.
Wembanyama was a key contributor once again, despite dealing with a back injury.
“Man, I’m so glad about how (my back) feels now,” Wembanyama said after the Portland game. “I got hit at one point and it hurt, but nowhere near as much as it used to.”
Wembanyama made all 10 of his free throws in the victory and is shooting 88.5 percent from the line this season.
“(Wembanyama’s) poise, his physicality, composure, fundamentals — all those things played a part in it,” said Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson. “(Getting to the free-throw line more) will be a part of his game that we continue to want to grow. When he does that, he’s going to be that much tougher to guard.”
This will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams. San Antonio won the first game 113-103 on Nov. 2, with five Spurs players scoring in double figures.
