Spurs Notes: Game 7, Castle, Harper, Vassell
Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson expects the defending champion Thunder to come out swinging in tonight’s Game 7 in Oklahoma City, writes Jordan Davis of The Oklahoman (subscriber link).
“I think a lot of fans are going to be happy,” Johnson said after Thursday’s Game 6 win. “… We’ll be prepared, take the next 40 hours or whatever it may be to try to get ready, get organized, and get ready to go into a hostile environment against the defending champs in the Western Conference finals.
“For a team that’s done it multiple times and knows exactly what it takes, I would expect to get their best punch. We’re gonna go out with our eyes wide open and expect nothing less.”
Here’s more on the Spurs:
- Second-year guard Stephon Castle has done an admirable job keeping Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in check during the Western Conference finals with smothering on-ball defense. Castle said the Spurs think they’re the better team heading into Saturday’s contest, according to Davis. “As a group, we all want this,” Castle said. “It’s right there in front of us. We feel like collectively that we’re better than this team and we didn’t want to let our fans down on our home court either. So coming out here with a chance to go back to OKC and play a Game 7 I feel like is all the motivation we need.”
- After struggling in Games 3-5, in part due to a hamstring injury, Dylan Harper played a key role in the Spurs’ Game 6 victory, as Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes (subscription required). The rookie guard, who was selected second overall in last year’s draft, finished with 18 points (on 6-of-9 shooting), six rebounds and four assists in 22 minutes. “People pulled me aside, just kept instilling confidence in me, trying to tell me to just go out there and be me, be in attack mode at all times,” Harper said. “I think I went out there and did that today.”
- Starting wing Devin Vassell said sleep wasn’t easy to come by on Friday night, Orsborn notes in another subscriber-only story. Still, the 25-year-old appeared energetic and jovial during Saturday’s shootaround. “You dream of this as a kid,” Vassell said of playing in his first Game 7. “Just more excited than anything. We have a chance to do something special.”
NBA Announces 2025/26 All-NBA Teams
The league has officially announced its three All-NBA teams, recognizing the top performers for the 2025/26 season (all Twitter links).
A total of 100 media members voted on the All-NBA teams, with First Team votes counting for five points, Second Team votes counting for three points, and Third Team votes counting for one point.
This year’s All-NBA teams are as follows (each player’s point total is noted in parentheses):
First Team
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder (500 points)- Nikola Jokic, Nuggets (500)
- Victor Wembanyama, Spurs (498)
- Luka Doncic, Lakers (482)
- Cade Cunningham, Pistons (414)
Second Team
- Jaylen Brown, Celtics (384)
- Kawhi Leonard, Clippers (277)
- Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers (276)
- Kevin Durant, Rockets (241)
- Jalen Brunson, Knicks (197)
Third Team
- Tyrese Maxey, Sixers (168)
- Jamal Murray, Nuggets (149)
- Jalen Johnson, Hawks (125)
- Jalen Duren, Pistons (121)
- Chet Holmgren, Thunder (87)
Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic, this season’s Most Valuable Player and runner-up, respectively, were the only unanimous first-teamers, with Wembanyama coming a single vote away — he had one Second Team vote to go along with 99 First Team votes.
Doncic and Cunningham each technically fell short of meeting the 65-game minimum required to be eligible for All-NBA and other major awards, but they appealed that ruling and were deemed award-eligible by the league. Doncic would have met the criteria if he hadn’t missed time due to the birth of a child, while Cunningham fell short after suffering a collapsed lung, so both players were granted “extraordinary circumstances” exceptions.
Notably, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, who played 61 games, also applied for an extraordinary circumstances exception. However, his request was denied, so his name didn’t show up on award ballots even though he likely would’ve been voted onto an All-NBA team if voters could’ve selected him. Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and LeBron James – who had made 21 consecutive All-NBA teams – were among the other superstars who didn’t meet the 65-game criteria.
Outside of the 15 players who made All-NBA teams, another dozen players showed up on at least one ballot, starting with Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, who had 26 voting points (Twitter link).
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (14 points), Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (9), Cavaliers guard James Harden (6), Rockets center Alperen Sengun (6), Hornets guard LaMelo Ball (5), Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5), Heat big man Bam Adebayo (4), and Celtics guard Derrick White (3) all earned multiple votes, while Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg, Raptors forward Brandon Ingram, and Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley earned one Third Team vote apiece.
As usual, there are also financial implications worth noting related to the All-NBA teams. First and foremost, Duren will now be eligible to sign a contract with the Pistons that starts at up to 30% of the 2026/27 salary cap as a restricted free agent this summer. That means he could earn up to a projected $287.1MM over five years.
If he hadn’t made All-NBA, Duren’s maximum five-year contract with Detroit would’ve been worth a projected $239.3MM. Either way, the most a rival team can offer him is four years and $177.4MM.
Maxey and Cunningham are on their way to meeting the super-max (ie. Designated Veteran) criteria but would need to earn All-NBA honors again in 2027 to become eligible for maximum-salary extensions worth up to 35% of the cap instead of 30%.
Wembanyama is in a similar boat — despite making the All-NBA First Team and being named Defensive Player of the Year, he would need to achieve one of those feats again in 2027 in order to increase the maximum value of his next contract from 25% to the cap to 30% via the Rose rule. Wembanyama will be eligible to sign a rookie scale extension this offseason and is a lock to do so.
Paolo Banchero and Jalen Williams had Rose rule language in their maximum-salary rookie scale extensions, which were signed last offseason and will go into effect this July. They could’ve increased their respective starting salaries beyond 25% of the cap if they’d made an All-NBA team, but neither player did.
Interestingly, the maximum-salary rookie scale extension that the Thunder negotiated with Holmgren in 2025 did not include a Rose rule escalator, so the projected value of the big man’s contract (five years, $239.3MM) remains unchanged even though he earned a spot on the Third Team. It’ll go into effect this year and will be identical to Williams’ deal.
Finally, Edwards would have become eligible to sign a super-max extension with the Timberwolves during the 2027 offseason if he had been named to an All-NBA team this season. Because he didn’t qualify, he’ll need to make All-NBA next season in order to meet the performance criteria for a Designated Veteran extension.
Spurs Notes: Barnes, Wembanyama, Fox, Backcourt
While most of the Spurs‘ key players have never played this deep into the postseason, veteran forward Harrison Barnes has appeared in 85 playoff games and found himself in a situation during Golden State’s 2015 championship run that’s similar to the one San Antonio is currently facing.
The Warriors trailed LeBron James and the Cavaliers 2-1 in the 2015 NBA Finals and came back to win the series, with their young star Stephen Curry leading the way. Can Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, down 2-1 against the defending champion Thunder, pull off a similar feat in this year’s Western Conference finals?
“It’s a matter of saying, ‘Look, however many games the series goes, are we going to play to our standard when we look back at those games?'” Barnes told Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “The last few games, can we have said that? No. And so going into this next game, what is it going to take for us to do that?”
Here’s more on the Spurs ahead of a critical Game 4:
- Wembanyama averaged just over 29 minutes per game during the regular season and just shy of 33 minutes per game in the first two rounds of the playoffs (not counting the two games he left early due to an injury or suspension). Through the first three games of the third round vs. Oklahoma City, he has played 41.7 MPG and the Spurs have outscored the Thunder by 21 points during his time on the floor. Although San Antonio has been outscored by 38 points when Wemby hasn’t been on the court, further increasing the big man’s playing time isn’t a viable strategy, according to head coach Mitch Johnson. “The idea is there,” Johnson said with a smile, per Raul Dominguez of The Associated Press. “But, yeah, I think as we’ve seen it, him fresh or somewhat fresh is still the best. … We don’t want to sacrifice our style of play and the identity that we’ve been building since October.”
- In an interesting story for ESPN, Baxter Holmes explores how difficult it is to quantify the fear that Wembanyama’s interior presence instills in opponents and how many plays he prevents from ever happening. “Everyone likes pointing out the videos where guys drive into the paint and then just dribble it out,” an Eastern Conference analytics staffer said. “I think it’s even more than that. I think it’s whether they drive in the first place. They’ve got a menu in their head of, ‘This is what I can do in this possession,’ and driving to the rim is just not on the menu.”
- While De’Aaron Fox will be active for Game 4 on Sunday, it’s obvious he’ll be playing through pain, tweets Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “I’m the same as I was before the series started, but I’m able to play,” said the Spurs guard, who missed the first two games of the Western finals due to a high ankle sprain. “… I don’t feel great, but I’m able to play.”
- While there are questions outside the organization about Fox’s long-term fit in San Antonio due to his maximum-salary contract and the presence of rising stars Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, neither the Spurs nor Fox’s camp appear concerned about the issue, writes Sam Amick of The Athletic. As Amick points out, this is the same organization that managed Manu Ginobili coming off the bench for a significant portion of his Hall-of-Fame career.
NBA Announces 2025/26 All-Defensive Teams
The NBA has officially announced its All-Defensive teams for the 2025/26 season (Twitter links).
The teams are determined by a panel of 100 media members, with players receiving two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote.
Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama was this season’s lone unanimous First Team pick, earning the maximum allowable 200 points after being named to the First Team by all 100 voters. DPOY runner-up Chet Holmgren fell short of being a unanimous pick, earning 93 First Team votes and four Second Team votes.
The honorees are as follows, along with their point totals (Twitter link):
First Team
- Victor Wembanyama, Spurs (200 points)
- Chet Holmgren, Thunder (190)
- Ausar Thompson, Pistons (166)
- Rudy Gobert, Timberwolves (151)
- Derrick White, Celtics (146)
Second Team
- Scottie Barnes, Raptors (130)
- Cason Wallace, Thunder (94)
- Bam Adebayo, Heat (71)
- OG Anunoby, Knicks (67)
- Dyson Daniels, Hawks (50)
The All-Defensive teams have been positionless for the last three years. Previously, each team was required to have two guards, two forwards, and a center, but that’s no longer the case. This season’s First Team leans more heavily toward rim protectors, while the Second Team features a wider variety of guards and wings alongside forward/center Adebayo.
This year’s All-Defensive squads feature a number of first-time honorees. Holmgren, Thompson, Barnes, and Wallace had never previously been named to an All-Defensive team. Wembanyama (2024) and Daniels (2025) had earned First Team honors once apiece prior to this year, while Anunoby made a Second Team in 2023.
Gobert is the most accomplished of these defenders — the four-time Defensive Player of the Year has now made nine total All-Defensive teams and is an eight-time member of the First Team. Adebayo is also no stranger to All-Defensive recognition either, having now made two First Teams and four Second Teams. White, meanwhile, got a First Team nod for the first time after previously making the Second Team twice.
There are four players across the league who would’ve earned bonuses if they’d made an All-Defensive team, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link), but none of them made the cut. That group includes Thunder wing Luguentz Dort, whose $500K bonus for All-Defense had been considered “likely” because he made the First Team in 2025.
That $500K will come off Dort’s cap hit this season and will reduce his 2026/27 team option by $500K to roughly $17.7MM, since the bonus is considered “unlikely” going forward. If Dort’s team option is exercised, his $500K bonus would continue to count for apron purposes next season despite not counting toward his cap hit, and he could still earn it if he makes an All-Defensive team next season.
Besides the 10 players who made All-Defense, 15 other players showed up on at least one ballot. That group was led by Spurs guard Stephon Castle (46 points), Rockets guard Amen Thompson (46), Warriors forward Draymond Green (40), and Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (28), each of whom was named to the First Team on between four and eight ballots.
Clippers guard Kris Dunn, who had 14 points, would have rounded out a hypothetical “third team.” Notably, his $5.7MM salary for 2026/27 would have become fully guaranteed if he had made an All-Defensive team. Still, it’s a pretty safe bet that Dunn will be retained through June 30, at which time his full salary will become guaranteed anyway.
The rest of the players who received All-Defensive votes, including Dort and former Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley, can be viewed here (Twitter link).
Jalen Williams, Dylan Harper To Undergo MRIs After Game 2 Exits
Thunder forward Jalen Williams and Spurs guard Dylan Harper both left Game 2 of the Western Conference finals early on Wednesday due to hamstring injuries, according to reports from Tim MacMahon of ESPN and Michael C. Wright of ESPN.
Williams was on the floor for just over seven minutes in the first quarter before checking out and receiving treatment on his left hamstring. The Thunder announced in the third quarter that Williams wouldn’t return to the game due to hamstring tightness.
The hamstring in question is the same one that Williams strained earlier in the playoffs, forcing him to miss the last two games of Oklahoma City’s first-round series vs. Phoenix and the entire second-round series vs. the Lakers. The 25-year-old, who scored 26 points in 37 minutes in his return to action on Monday, will undergo an MRI to determine whether he has strained the hamstring again, a source tells MacMahon.
“He’s going to get checked out,” head coach Mark Daigneault told reporters after the game. “I don’t deal in like hypotheticals, especially when doctors are involved. … We’ll see where he’s at. We’ll update him accordingly.”
While Ajay Mitchell made six starts in place of Williams earlier in the postseason, it was Cason Wallace who opened the second half of Game 2 alongside the rest of Oklahoma City’s usual starters. Both players could be in line for increased roles if Williams is forced to miss more time. Mitchell went down late in the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury and received medical treatment on the bench, but he said after the game that he just got hit in the thigh and should be fine going forward, per Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Spurs, meanwhile, had already been without starting point guard De’Aaron Fox due to a high ankle sprain and are now in danger of his replacement, Harper, missing time too. The rookie standout exited in the third quarter and didn’t return due to what appeared to be a right hamstring injury. He’ll undergo an MRI on Thursday in San Antonio, sources tell Wright.
Harper was excellent in Game 1 in Fox’s place, racking up 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and seven steals in a season-high 47 minutes of action. In Game 2, he registered 12 points, three assists, and two rebounds in 25 minutes before being forced to the sidelines.
As for Fox, he took part in pregame warmups prior to each of the first two games of the Western finals and the Spurs were said to be hopeful about his chances of returning for Game 2, but he was ultimately held out of both contests in Oklahoma City.
“He’s just trying to play every day,” head coach Mitch Johnson said. “It’s a tough injury that he wouldn’t be playing with in the regular season. So, he’s trying to tough it out. He did that in Minnesota. He had an awkward landing. So, he reaggravated it. We’ve just got to make sure he’s in a place that he can be out there and compete to the level that he would need to in the game that we’re playing.”
If Fox and Harper are both unable to play on Friday, the Spurs would have to lean more heavily on Stephon Castle and veteran reserve Jordan McLaughlin. Castle has struggled to maintain control of the ball against the Thunder, turning it over 11 times in Game 1 and nine times in Game 2. Still, the Spurs remain confident in his ability to operate as the team’s primary ball-handler.
“Steph is a dog,” teammate Keldon Johnson said. “He’ll figure it out. We support him every step of the way. [He] turned the ball over. We all turn the ball over. It’s not just on Steph.”
As for McLaughlin, he averaged a career-low 6.4 minutes per game in 44 regular season appearances and hasn’t been in the playoff rotation, but his teammates aren’t concerned about the possibility of him playing an expanded role, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). The veteran point guard had six points in seven minutes in Game 2.
“Every single time J-Mac comes in, he makes the right play, hits a big shot,” Spurs forward Devin Vassell said after Wednesday’s game. “As soon as he came in (tonight), he wasn’t even warm yet and he hits a three. He’s steady. If he needs to come in and play, I don’t think anybody is worried or concerned.”
Spurs Notes: Castle, Harper, Fox, Conference Finals
The Spurs didn’t need much time to grow into a contender. Three years after the lottery win that brought Victor Wembanyama to San Antonio, the team is headed to the Western Conference finals with several rotation players who are even younger than he is.
After eliminating the Timberwolves on Friday with a 30-point win at Minnesota, coach Mitch Johnson said his players never focused on any issues their inexperience might cause, relays Dave Campbell of The Associated Press.
“I understand the general expectations of what we were supposed to do in October aren’t necessarily aligned with where we’re at right now,” Johnson said. “We never talked about what we were going to be or what we were going to do. We just knew that we had a lot of potential and we were going to try to be the best team we could be.”
Wembanyama gets the most attention, but the Spurs have plenty of weapons around him – building the team by drafting well and taking advantage of some good fortune in the lottery. Stephon Castle, the fourth pick in 2024, led the way in Game 6 with 32 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 5-of-7 from three-point range. Rookie guard Dylan Harper, the No. 2 pick last summer, continued his outstanding series with 15 points and five rebounds off the bench.
“We’re a really talented group that plays together and plays very selfless, and we’re all young,” Castle said. “I think we can beat anybody on any given night. Us just being very selfless in the way we move the ball, it’s just fun to play.”
There’s more on the Spurs:
- At 28, De’Aaron Fox is enjoying his role as a mentor to his two young backcourt partners, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. Fox, who was acquired from Sacramento at last year’s deadline, is trying to build on their natural talents and create a winning culture. “I want them to feel that success from as early as you can get it in your career because you never know when those things can come back around,” he said. “[I] just give them little tidbits that they can get here or there because they’re just so talented. Just giving them a cheat sheet to kind of maneuver throughout the league. I try to add what I can to what they can already do. They can already do a lot of things.”
- Minnesota coach Chris Finch admits he made a mistake by beginning Friday’s game with center Rudy Gobert guarding Castle, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News writes in a subscriber-only story. “I’ll take the blame for the start of the game,” Finch said. “We flipped the matchups around. We tried to do some things there that maybe slow down their start. Allowed Castle to get hot early, that certainly wasn’t the plan. That’s on me.”
- The Spurs seem mentally prepared for the challenge of facing the defending champion Thunder in the conference finals, observes Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports. “The nature of the playoffs means that we’re going to play against better and better teams,” Wembanyama said. “And that was already elite between the first and second round. But we have the guidance. Good coaching staff, the best actually, so we can trust them.” Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman offers a series preview with a comparison of the two teams in several important areas.
Wolves Notes: Edwards, Roster, Giannis, Randle, Hyland
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards made an unusual gesture during Friday’s Game 6, congratulating the Spurs during a timeout with Minnesota down 33 points at home with 8:01 remaining (YouTube link). Edwards said it was an acknowledgement that San Antonio was the better team, per Myron Medcalf of ESPN.
As Medcalf writes, the Timberwolves have now lost three consecutive playoff elimination games by an average of 27 points. They lost at home to Dallas in Game 5 of the 2024 Western Conference finals, at Oklahoma City in Game 5 of the 2025 Western finals, and at home to San Antonio on Friday in the conference semifinals.
When asked if there were any common themes during those three losses, Edwards replied, “Good question. No comment.”
According to Medcalf, Edwards said he was content with the current roster, but he also said the Wolves didn’t prepare like a championship contender.
“I feel like you’re supposed to build championship habits or playoff habits in a regular season,” Edwards said. “No, we didn’t build the habits during the regular season.”
Here’s more on the Wolves:
- Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic views Edwards’ gesture as a sign that the 24-year-old guard recognizes the Timberwolves have been passed in the West’s hierarchy and believes it was a message to the front office to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo. As Thompson observes, while Edwards publicly said the roster wasn’t an issue, he also suggested his teammates didn’t take advantage of the double teams he faced. “It was no struggle,” Edwards said of handling the defense’s extra attention. “Just trusting in my teammates, trusting in the next action we’re going to make something happen. And I feel like we did, man. We just couldn’t make enough shots to win the game. I think that’s just what it came down to.” That’s not exactly a bold statement, considering Julius Randle (three points on 1-of-8 shooting), Rudy Gobert (zero points on 0-of-4 shooting) and Jaden McDaniels (13 points on 4-of-13 shooting, five fouls in 23 minutes) combined to score 16 points on 5-of-25 shooting in Game 6.
- According to Medcalf, Edwards said the following when asked how the Wolves can catch up to the Thunder and Spurs, with other teams lurking in the West: “I don’t know, man. I don’t think that’s a question for me.“
- Randle, who was a game-worst minus-34 in 23 minutes, looks “miscast” as a No. 2 option when playing against title contenders, according to Thompson, who points out that Game 6 was so lopsided because San Antonio’s secondary stars — including Stephon Castle, who had a game-high 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists — dominated. Randle had no answers for trying to score on Victor Wembanyama throughout the series, Thompson writes.
- Backup guard Bones Hyland hopes to re-sign with Minnesota as an unrestricted free agent, tweets Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “It feels like where I belong so I definitely want to come back,” Hyland said.
Southwest Notes: Ujiri, Schmitz, Sweeney, Popovich, Rockets
Christian Clark of The Athletic profiles new Mavericks president of basketball operations and alternate governor Masai Ujiri, writing that the veteran executive got his NBA start as an unpaid scout with Orlando in 2002 prior to landing a paid scouting job with Denver the following year.
Seven years later, Ujiri was named the Nuggets’ general manager, winning the Executive of the Year award in 2012/13 and then leaving for the top front office job in Toronto shortly thereafter. The Raptors made the playoffs in eight of Ujiri’s 12 seasons, winning the title in 2019, before the two sides parted ways last summer.
Ujiri’s first major move in Dallas was hiring Mike Schmitz to be his top lieutenant, with a title of general manager. Schmitz, who was most recently the Trail Blazers’ assistant GM, was also a draft analyst for several years before joining Portland, Clark notes.
“I’ve known him for many, many years,” Ujiri said of Schmitz. “Incredible scout. Incredible leader. Just digs deep into work, data and what you want to know about: really scouting players, team building, all those things, you know? Treating people well. Staff organizing. Managing people. It’s a whole package.”
Here’s more from the Southwest:
- Within a feature story on Spurs associate head coach Sean Sweeney, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (subscriber link) refers to the 41-year-old as the “unsung star” of the team’s playoff run. Sweeney, who has been linked to multiple head coaching vacancies this spring, is known as a defensive guru — the Spurs had the fifth-worst defensive rating in the NBA in 2024/25 but had the third-best mark in 2025/26, McDonald writes. Several members of the team praised Sweeney’s preparedness, competitiveness and basketball acumen, and unanimous Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama said Sweeney deserved “all of” the credit for San Antonio’s defensive turnaround this season, according to McDonald. “His attention to detail on everything and the way he can explain things to make it make sense for us (is big),” guard Stephon Castle said. “He’s a big reason we’re one of the top defenses in the West.”
- Although he formally stepped down as the Spurs‘ head coach at the end of last season after suffering a stroke in November 2024, Gregg Popovich has quietly been around the team throughout 2025/26, Jared Weiss of The Athletic writes, providing honest feedback and support to several players on the roster. “He’s been a big part of this whole year,” rookie Carter Bryant told The Athletic. “It’s been amazing. Not everybody has the greatest coach of all time just kind of sitting there in their laps. I just try to take it up as much as I can.” Popovich’s technical title is president of basketball operations, but it sounds like he’s been more of a coaching adviser, Weiss adds. “I think that’s one big thing, respecting the game and not taking any of this for granted,” Devin Vassell said. “And just with life, he’s taught me so much stuff off the court, whether it’s family or giving back in the community, he’s always had that at his forefront, and I appreciate him for that.”
- Varun Shankar of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required) shares some Rockets-related chatter from the combine. People around the league don’t expect Amen Thompson to sign a rookie scale max extension this offseason, according to Shankar, who suggests Thompson might receive something like 20-23% of the salary cap instead of the full 25%. Shankar also hears Tari Eason‘s next contract could come in around $22MM annually. Eason will be a restricted free agent this summer if he’s given a qualifying offer, as expected.
Spurs Notes: Wembanyama, Harper, K. Johnson, M. Johnson
Victor Wembanyama realized that he lost his composure when he was ejected from Game 4 for knocking down Naz Reid with an elbow, so he didn’t let anything bother him when the series resumed Tuesday night, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Wembanyama had interactions with Jaden McDaniels, Ayo Dosunmu and Anthony Edwards early in the game, but he just smiled and played through them as the Spurs rolled to a 29-point victory.
“I feel like the rage baiting would have been maybe one of their strategies,” Wembanyama said. “I just feel like we need to stay composed as a team.”
Instead of getting upset, Wembanyama responded by torching the Timberwolves for 27 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two three-pointers, a combined stat line that no one else has ever reached in the playoffs. Prior to the game, Devin Vassell said he was looking for “Angry Vic,” but coach Mitch Johnson was relieved that “Mature Vic” showed up instead. Wembanyama believes he brought a little bit of both, and the combination was too much for Minnesota.
“I feel like we got the Vic that you’ve seen all year. I think his maturity level was off the charts,” Stephon Castle said. “When he’s playing like that, playing aggressive with everything he brings for us defensively, I feel like we’re pretty hard to beat.”
There’s more from San Antonio:
- Dylan Harper‘s highlight dunk in the fourth quarter provided an exclamation point for his high-level performance throughout the postseason, observes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Harper was a plus-13 on Tuesday, and the Spurs have outscored opponents by 73 combined points in the playoffs when he’s been on the court. “If he played for any other team in the league,” Carter Bryant said, “he’d be starting and probably be winning the Rookie of the Year right now. And to see how he’s sacrificed and bought into his role, it’s amazing.”
- Keldon Johnson has mostly been held in check during the postseason, but he displayed his Sixth Man of the Year credentials in Game 5, Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News notes in a subscriber-only story. Johnson, who was limited to 31 total points in the five games against Portland and 35 in the first four games of this series, went 8-of-11 from the field on his way to a 21-point night.
- Prior to Game 4, Mitch Johnson talked about the team’s chances to be a title contender for years to come with a youthful core of Wembanyama (22), Castle (21), Harper (20) and Bryant (20), relays Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (subscription required). “We have a lot of young players I don’t think are anywhere near reaching their ceiling or optimal level of playing,” Johnson said. “And we’re still learning about each other and ourselves. The coach has room to grow and get better. So, yeah, I just don’t think we’re anywhere near being a finished product by any means. There’s a lot of room to improve.”
Spurs Notes: Wemby, Edwards, Bryant, Two-Way Players
Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson made the “ultimate gamble” on Friday when he decided to leave Victor Wembanyama in the game after the star center picked up his fifth personal foul with six-plus minutes remaining, writes Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Instead of backfiring, the decision paid dividends, as San Antonio defeated Minnesota by seven points to regain home-court advantage in the Western Conference semifinals.
Wembanyama put up incredible numbers in the victory, recording 39 points (on 13-of-18 shooting), 15 rebounds and five blocks in 37 minutes. The Spurs were plus-16 when he was on the court and minus-nine in the 11 minutes he didn’t play.
“It’s the feeling I get before games, I dunno, this excitement, this heat in my heart,” Wembanyama told “NBA on Prime Video” after the Spurs’ win. “It just gets stronger and stronger as the game goes on. I’m built for this. I love this more than anything else.”
According to Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com, Wembanyama became the fourth player since blocks became an official statistic in 1973/74 to record a 35-15-5 stat line in the playoffs, joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The French big man also limited his opponents to 4-of-21 shooting on field goals he contested, Wright adds.
“He really imposed himself on the game,” Johnson said. “He established himself dominating the paint and rim on both ends. When he does that, it kind of feels like everything opens up for himself and his teammates. Then he gets some shots on the perimeter. He gets some closeouts. He gets the gravity in terms of teams trying to be physical with him. He did a good job of playing though contact and not expecting calls. [He] just met the physicality with the proper execution.”
Here’s more on the Spurs, who are now up 2-1 in the second-round series:
- After Anthony Edwards scored 27 points through three quarters, Devin Vassell and Stephon Castle helped limit the Timberwolves star to five points in the final frame, per Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “We know he likes to get to that left-hand step back for sure, so we just tried to pressure him and make him go right,” Vassell said. “And then sending doubles, and doing stuff like that. But ultimately it was to wear him down all through the game, so at the end of the game, he wasn’t feeling comfortable.”
- Rookie forward Carter Bryant only played eight minutes in Game 3, but he made the most of his opportunity, knocking down both of his three-point attempts in the second quarter, Orsborn notes in another story. “I think the biggest thing is just coming in and just doing my job,” Bryant told the San Antonio Express-News. “Sometimes it calls for me to hit those two shots. Sometimes I miss those two shots, but I’m playing spectacular defense on the other end. So it’s just understanding you can’t allow yourself to get out of the game. Just something as simple as that.”
- Two-way players aren’t eligible to compete in the postseason, but Emanuel Miller, Harrison Ingram and David Jones Garcia are viewing this playoff run as an opportunity to learn and improve their games, according to Orsborn. “It’s something you can’t really put into words, seeing what we’re doing (to prepare),” said Miller. “It’s been a blessing, a learning experience for sure, learning from the best coaches, learning from (president Gregg Popovich), learning from the players, learning how to attack each game, how to attack each series and how they attack, really, each day.”