How Spurs unlocked Victor Wembanyama's offense with a simple change in series-flipping win vs. Wolves

The Wolves were valiant. It's high time we start talking about this team as one of the best in the league; a true playoff riser, and Anthony Edwards (32 points, 14 boards and six assists) is a beast. But Wemby is a different animal altogether. Right now, he is the single-most dominant player in the league when he is maximized, and San Antonio is my pick to win it all because of him.

Yes, the Spurs are deep as hell and filled with two-way studs, but Wemby is the game changer. Defensively, he alters the geometry of the court in the way Stephen Curry did offensively back in 2015 when nobody thought the Warriors were ready. They were, because Curry changed everything, including the traditional timeline a team has to take to a title. So does Wemby.

Everything from his roll gravity to his insane defensive recovery range jumbles the court calculus that these players have spent a lifetime learning. A shot that used to require two feet of space now needs four or five. Even when he's well on the weak side, he's scaring the hell out of drivers. You're never safely past him as a penetrator; he'll swat you from six feet behind. You can't loft shots high enough; he'll just extend above the backboard.

When he has it all working, which is most of the time, he's a total one-man wrecking crew. Such was the case on Friday, when only two other Spurs made more than three shots. Probably the biggest shot of the night was when the Wolves cut San Antonio's lead to three on a Naz Reid 3 with just over three minutes left, only for Wemby to bury a triple on the other end to take it right back to six. Minnesota never got within a single possession again, and with Wemby playing like this, they might never get back within reach of this series.