Timberwolves pursue 3-game season sweep of Spurs
The San Antionio Spurs will look to salvage a game in the season series with Minnesota and solidify their place in the Western Conference standings when they host the Timberwolves on Saturday.
The contest will be the third and final matchup between the teams this season. The Timberwolves won both of the earlier meetings.
The Spurs head to the second half of the season at 28-13 and tied for second in the West, a far cry from their 19-22 record at the same juncture last year.
San Antonio's latest outing was a 119-101 home win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. The Spurs led by 39 points early in the fourth quarter and cruised to the finish line with the regulars on the bench.
"Our offense was really clean and sharp ... just in terms of execution and spacing," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "Most importantly, it felt like our best passing game -- maybe not in the whole season, but in a while. The basketball had energy, we were finding people early, and that allowed the person catching the ball some really good opportunities, decisions and options."
Victor Wembanyama amassed 22 points and 10 rebounds in just three quarters and went 5 of 6 from beyond the arc in the win. Stephon Castle added 19 points and 10 assists for the Spurs, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Castle, who has produced seven double-doubles this season, did not commit a turnover in 26 minutes of court time.
"It felt like a good offensive performance, and I got to say that Mitch put a real emphasis on (shooting) in training," Wembanyama said. "(He) really made it clear that we need to take that seriously. And I think we did."
The Timberwolves travel west from Houston to San Antonio on the heels of a 110-105 loss to the Rockets on Friday. The setback snapped a two-game winning streak for Minnesota, which entered the game with a 17-6 record since Thanksgiving, tied for the best mark in the NBA over that span.
Julius Randle led the Timberwolves with a season-high 39 points (27 of them in the second half) in the defeat. Naz Reid added 25 points and nine rebounds, while Rudy Gobert racked up 10 points and 13 boards.
The game was tied at 84 with 11:14 to play before Houston reeled off a 16-7 run over the ensuing five minutes. Minnesota got within two points on a Jaden McDaniels free throw with 1:09 left but never got over the hump.
The Timberwolves missed 15 of 35 free throws on the night and committed eight of their 16 turnovers in the fourth quarter.
"Just too many mistakes in the fourth," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "We had great pace, you know, early on, and they just slowed it down as the game went along and the game got like kind of ugly. We need to force pace in that game to be successful."
Minnesota and San Antonio faced off on Sunday in Minneapolis, with the Timberwolves winning 104-103 when Anthony Edwards banked home a shot with 16.8 seconds to play to complete a 19-point comeback over the final 19 minutes.
Edwards logged 32 points when the Timberwolves downed the visiting Spurs 125-112 on Nov. 30.
On Friday, Edwards missed his second straight game due to injury maintenance for his sore right foot. His availability for the Saturday game had yet to be determined.