Julius Randle scored 21 points and Anthony Edwards came off the bench to hit for 18 points as the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves outlasted the San Antonio Spurs 104-102 on Monday in Game 1 of the teams’ Western Conference semifinal series.
Game 2 will be contested on Wednesday in San Antonio. Games 3 and 4 will be in Minneapolis on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Minnesota was bolstered by the return of Edwards, who sustained a bone bruise in his left knee on April 25 that was supposed to keep him out multiple weeks.
“We talked yesterday that if he was able to go, he was going to come off the bench, and if that, you know, was fine with him,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “… He was all in, and he did a really good job of, like, not like pushing and forcing things, even though he knew he was on a minutes restrictions. I thought he did a really good job of just staying in the flow.”
San Antonio led by three points after three quarters. Edwards scored 11 of the Timberwolves’ first 19 points of the fourth period before Minnesota reeled off a 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by Mike Conley with 4:42 left to build a 95-86 advantage.
Victor Wembanyama’s dunk with 43.6 seconds left trimmed the margin to four, and Dylan Harper’s steal and layup with 30.9 seconds remaining brought San Antonio within a bucket. After a miss by Randle, the Spurs opted not to call a timeout and got the ball to Julian Champagnie, whose 3-point attempt at the buzzer hit the front of the rim and bounced away.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said, “Dylan did a good job pushing the ball and kicking it ahead. Julian had a fly-by and had a shot in rhythm. No problem with the shot. That was a great shot. I hope he shoots it every time.”
Jaden McDaniels and Terrence Shannon Jr. added 16 points each for Minnesota. Naz Reid and Conley had 12 points apiece with Randle and Rudy Gobert grabbing 10 rebounds each.
“(Winning this game was) extremely important,” Randle said. “That’s kind of a tone-setter for the series, especially being a road team for us to come out the way we did with composure, just playing good basketball. We felt like we left a lot out there. Feel like we can play a lot better.”
Harper led the Spurs with 18 points while Stephon Castle and Champagnie scored 17 each. Devin Vassell had 14 points and Wembanyama recorded an 11-point, 15-rebound, 12-blocked-shots triple-double despite going 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. Keldon Johnson also had 11 points for San Antonio.
“(Minnesota) did what they do — they’re physical, they guard the basketball really well, especially direct action, where it’s kind of mano a mano situations, they got guys that are capable of doing it, and they take a lot of pride in it,” Mitch Johnson said.
Randle ran the floor for a dunk over Wembanyama at the buzzer to allow the Timberwolves to earn a 24-22 advantage after 12 minutes of play.
The teams traded runs over the first half of the second quarter as San Antonio built a 35-29 lead after a pair of free throws by Luke Kornet at the 6:38 mark. The Timberwolves swung back with a 7-0 surge capped by a layup by Reid that netted them a 36-35 advantage, and the rest of the half went back and forth before ending tied at 45-all.
Harper led all scorers with 11 points before halftime while Castle added 10 for the Spurs. Edwards, Reid and Randle had seven points each to pace Minnesota in the first half.
–Field Level Media
