Spurs blow out Wolves to advance to Western Conference Finals

The Spurs had a chance to punch their ticket to the Western Conference Finals Friday night, and they did exactly that with an emphatic 139-109 victory over the Wolves. 

With their backs against the wall, Minnesota changed its defensive scheme to start the game. Instead of playing Gobert against Wemby straight up, the Wolves put him on Castle instead, allowing the Stifle Tower to sag off the Spurs guard and defend the interior. Well, Castle responded by hitting three wide-open triples en route to a 14-point quarter where he shot 5-6 from the field. Defensively, San Antonio also withheld their usual doubles on Ant, but did send help to other players who didn’t expect it coming. 

Offensively, the Spurs played as one. Wemby’s gravity allowed San Antonio’s shooters to get wide-open looks, helping them start 5-11 from three. The three-headed monster in the backcourt also got easy drives to the rim, allowing Fox and Harper to shoot a combined 6-7 from the field. It certainly helped that Minnesota lost confidence in Gobert’s offense, pulling him early in favor of Naz Reid, who hit two early threes to lead all Wolves scorers. Unsurprisingly, Minnesota couldn’t score in the paint due to Wemby’s presence, and after starting 8-15 due to hot shooting, the Wolves then went 2-16 and allowed the Spurs to go on a 20-0 run to start the second quarter, going up 56-27.  

However, this is a game of runs, and we were all reminded of that shortly after. The Wolves answered with a 34-18 run of their own, cutting the Spurs’ lead down to just 13 heading into halftime. Unsurprisingly, Ant was the catalyst, driving fearlessly and finishing around Wemby multiple times while drawing a key foul that led to three points right before the buzzer. 

Still down by double digits, the Wolves switched their defensive scheme once again, putting Gobert back on Wemby. This is when the Spurs rebuilt their original lead, as the good guys went back up by 25 just a few minutes into the third. It was much of the same story, as San Antonio’s shooters remained hot and the guards got to the rim at will, since Gobert sat for large stretches again. Minnesota didn’t manage to go on another run, and the second half was so uneventful that the benches cleared not even halfway through the fourth, with the biggest storyline being that Ant shook hands with the Spurs before the game even ended.

Game notes

• The Spurs are peaking at the exact right time. After an upset in game 1, San Antonio outscored Minnesota by 99 in games 2-6, and only lost game 4 by 5 points with Wemby logging just 12:29. More importantly, the Spurs have experienced fewer and fewer offensive lulls as the playoffs have gone on, and if that continues, the team will be virtually impossible to stop. 
• We are seeing Harper and Castle both take leaps in front of our eyes. They’ve been spectacular all season, but to play at an even higher level in the playoffs is something else. I certainly did not expect Castle to shoot so well from three, even if most were wide open, nor did I think that Harper’s defense was so advanced that he was arguably the best matchup on Ant. Along with Fox, any of the Spurs’ three guards can play at an All-NBA level any night, which is what championship-level teams need from their second options. 
• Speaking of Castle, he is now shooting 44% from three in the playoffs. It makes increasingly less sense for opponents to put their bigs on him, though I still expect OKC to do it since they play two bigs in Chet and Hartenstein. His shooting might be the single biggest X-factor in the Conference Finals. 
• Fox left the game with a minute left in the first half due to an ankle injury. He did return to start the second, though, and didn’t look any worse for wear, finishing the game with 21 points on 8-10 shooting.
• Spurs, OKC, Western Conference Finals. The first of what should be many clashes for perhaps the rivalry of this generation, and a matchup between two teams with dynastic potential. These are two teams that can become all-timers, and are also the only ones who can prevent the other from doing so. Strap in, folks: this will be the best series of the entire postseason. 

Play of the game

This is why you never test Swipa!

Next game: @ OKC on Monday at 7:30CDT

With the series ending in 6, the West finals will officially start Monday. Go Spurs go!!!