The Minnesota Timberwolves face the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Spurs, with 62 wins, are the No. 2 seed, while the Timberwolves aim to build on their playoff success despite injuries to key players.
All season long, the San Antonio Spurs showed they were a team far ahead of everyone else's timeline — they were a contender now, not in a year or three. San Antonio won 62 games and was the No. 2 seed in the West.
All season long, Minnesota almost looked bored. We'd see flashes of the team that made it to two straight Western Conference Finals, but we'd see ugly losses (or just flat games) on other nights. It looked like a team waiting for the games to get serious. When the games did get serious in the first round of the playoffs, the Timberwolves showed not just their talent but real heart to overcome injuries to Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo, and they beat the Nuggets.
Can Minnesota repeat that formula, or is San Antonio just too deep and too good? Here's what you need to know heading into this Western Conference Semifinals matchup.
Game 1 between Minnesota and San Antonio is on Monday, May 4, and you can watch it on Peacock. The series continues every other day until Game 6, there are a couple days off before that game.
All times are Eastern (* = if necessary).
Game 1: Monday, May 4 (9:30 ET, Peacock/NBCSN)
Game 2: Wednesday, May 6 (9:30 ET, ESPN)
Game 3: Friday, May 8 (9:30 ET, Prime Video)
Sunday, May 10 (7:30 ET, NBC/Peacock)
May 12* (TBD)
May 15* (TBD)
May 17* (TBD)
The Timberwolves vs Spurs playoff series schedule has not been detailed in the provided content.
The San Antonio Spurs won 62 games this season, securing the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
The key injured players for the Timberwolves are Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo.
The Timberwolves showed resilience in the first round, but the Spurs are considered deeper and stronger.
Tobias Harris scored 30 points, including 19 in the first half, leading Detroit to victory in Game 7 against Orlando. Cade Cunningham also contributed significantly, extending the lead in the second half.
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Victor Wembanyama considers Rudy Gobert, a fellow French center, a mentor.
"He's played a huge role in my journey, has been a role model, has inspired me in so many ways that should actually inspire more people, especially when it comes to the care given to the body, which is an example for all big men," Wembanyama said this week.
However, this is Wembanyama we're talking about, so he wants more information and details than anyone else.
"A few weeks ago he asked me what kind of filter I had in my house for water," Gobert said. "It just tells you how his mind is. I try to talk to the young guys here about the food they eat and stuff like that. But I don't get those type of questions."
Gobert was the reason the Timberwolves upset the Nuggets in the first round, thanks to his spectacular defense on Nikola Jokic. It's not that the three-time MVP didn't get his, but he had to work for every bucket, every inch of court, and it wore him down. It was the key to the series.
Now Gobert has to find a way to be physical and do the same thing to Wembanyama, but it may not be as easy. In part because this will not be a straight matchup — Gobert will not be one Wembanyama much of the time (look for him to be on Stephon Castle, that is what Portland did with its big Donovan Clingan).
Gobert on Wemby is tough because Wemby's game is more fluid, he's got better handles and a better 3-point shot, and his role in the San Antonio offense, while central, is not the same. The Nuggets play through Jokic, that's the case in San Antonio, where Wembanyama can be off the ball and they use his gravity as a shooter to create driving lanes.
Gobert will get his time on Wembanyama (as will Julius Randle), and he needs to be physical and wear his mentee down. It's just a lot easier said than done.
Anthony Edwards reportedly told his teammates he will be back in this series from the ugly knee hyperextension and bone bruise he suffered in Game 4 against the Nuggets. ESPN's Shams Charania reports Edwards did a little on-court work, and there is some hope he could be back for "potentially Game 3 or Game 4 at the earliest."
All Minnesota is saying is that Edwards remains week -to-week. If Edwards does return, what version of him do we see? 80% 90%
Edwards dropped 55 points on the Spurs in a matchup this season (a game San Antonio still won), which leads into the next issue…
Jaden McDaniels may want to hold back from saying the Spurs are "all bad defenders," as he did when talking about the Nuggets. San Antonio is an entirely different thing.
It's not just Wembanyama protecting the rim, although he is the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year who completely changes the geometry of the court. It's that he is surrounded by quality defenders on the perimeter: Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, De'Aaron Fox, Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and on down the list, the Spurs don't roll out a bad defender.
A fully healthy Timberwolves team with Edwards driving and creating, plus DiVincenzo knocking down 3s, could put up points on the Spurs and make this a series. As it is now, Minnesota needs a massive series from Julius Randle plus some other guys to step up — Ayo Dosunmu, if he's healthy — to have any chance.
Minnesota also must rely on its defense, which was fantastic against the Nuggets, holding them to 13 points below their league-leading regular-season average. San Antonio has more shot creators and ball handlers, but Minnesota has a great defense and experience. Is that enough?
The Edwards injury makes this a challenging prediction, if he were fully healthy I'd say Spurs in 7. However, without him to at least start the series — and we don't know what version of Edwards we get if and when he does return — it just changes the equation.
San Antonio is just a tougher matchup for Minnesota, especially a shorthanded Timberwolves team.