Wembanyama sets tone early, Spurs follow his lead to 29-point Game 5 win, 3-2 series lead

Victor Wembanyama is the story. As he always is.

Fueled by his ejection in Game 4, he came out and set the tone from the opening tip, scoring 16 of the Spurs' first 21 points as they raced out to a 21-9 lead.

However, the real difference in this series is depth.

There were multiple points when the Timberwolves would make a run, and each time, a different Spurs player would step up and make plays to take control again. At one point it was Stephon Castle. At another it was Keldon Johnson. Another time it was Dylan Harper.

"We played with the appropriate fear, discipline, execution, physicality, poise," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "And I thought we had it from an array of people tonight and it was really good to see."

The Timberwolves only get that kind of boost from Anthony Edwards, but nobody else is stepping up when they need it most.

The result was the Spurs pulling away in the fourth quarter for a comfortable 126-97 win, giving them a 3-2 lead and just one more win away from the Western Conference Finals.

Game 6 is Friday night in Minnesota.

Wembanyama led the way for San Antonio with 27 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks on the night.

More than the stats, it was the tone he set. The Spurs were the more physical team on the night and dominated the paint — San Antonio won the points-in-the-paint battle 68-36.The Timberwolves shot just 47.4% in the paint on the night.