Spurs’ timid offense dooms them against physical Timberwolves

The Spurs defended well but struggled to handle their opponent’s physicality on the other end.

The Silver and Black couldn’t extend their winning streak to three. The Minnesota Timberwolves were simply too much to handle for a Spurs team that lacked physicality on half-court offense and couldn’t hit three-pointers or get fastbreak points to make up for it, en route to a 106-92 loss.

The Spurs started off trying to set the tone with their defense. Jeremy Sochan was doing a solid job of containing Julius Randle and Victor Wembanyama was expertly protecting the paint. On the other end, those two attempted to solve the crossmatch and spacing issues they often run into with interior passing. That was enough to keep the game mostly close in the opening minutes before the visitors found their rhythm on offense and their touch on jumpers. Anthony Edwards carried the scoring load for a while, but slowly but surely others got involved. Meanwhile, the ball and player movement of the opening minutes disappeared for San Antonio for multiple possessions. When they moved the ball, they found good looks, but even those not always went in. After one, the Timberwolves were up nine points.

The offensive struggles the Spurs went through in the second half of the first quarter were only exacerbated by an increase in physicality from the Wolves’ defense. There was nothing crisp about San Antonio’s attack, as every dribble and pass took effort. Turnovers piled up and, making matters much worse, the good outside looks they could create refused to go in. There were good moments in which Wemby was everywhere on defense and created some shots directly or through his gravity, but the communal mistakes outweighed any individual good. On the other end, the Silver and Black were doing a decent job in the paint but the Wolves made their threes and got some offensive boards to make up for their turnovers. For the second straight quarter, San Antonio was below 20 points and trailed by 15.

The lid finally came off the basket for the Spurs from outside to start the second half. Harrison Barnes hit some huge threes to give the offense some life, but what really provided realistic hopes for a comeback was the newfound energy displayed by the guys wearing Silver and Black. San Antonio was contesting rebounds, winning 50/50 balls and had Victor Wembanyama providing elite rim protection. The deficit was cut to just three and not even a sloppy end of the frame due to some rookie moments from Stephon Castle and a lack of contributions from Vassell on lineups that needed his shot creation derailed the comeback attempt. The visitors were still up six heading into the final period but at that point didn’t look as fully in control of the game as they were in the first half.

Alas, the third quarter was the anomaly. The threes stopped falling again and the attempts to force drives were unsuccessful. It was hard to get Wembanyama involved on offense and the Donte DiVincenzo – Rudy Gobert duo connected on a couple of pick-and-rolls that allowed the Wolves to get the lead back to double digits after a near four-minute drought for the Spurs. After that, Minnesota was rolling on offense and was once again outmuscling San Antonio on the other end, making every half-court possession an adventure. The Spurs got some stops to prevent a blowout for a while but couldn’t get enough buckets to make a push and eventually, it became evident that there would be no comeback. With three minutes to go and down 20, Mitch Johnson pulled the plug and emptied his bench.

Play of the game

The Spurs should use this 5-4 pick and roll more often.

Game notes:

• Victor Wembanyama had 20 points but it took him 20 shots to get there, as his outside shot failed him and he only took three free throws. He also logged only one dime in the second half, but the team went away from him and to a more guard-heavy attack, so it’s hard to blame him. He still posted a 20-point, 10-rebound, five-assist, seven-block stat line because he’s a monster.
• Jeremy Sochan had 17 points on 10 shots to go with 15 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block. Like Wemby, he did a bit of everything, as he also had some great moments on defense. There are still some issues when he shares the floor with Wembanyama on offense but the coaching staff is trying to solve them by essentially playing him as the center and Wemby as the power forward and using the aforementioned interior passing to negate some of the spacing issues. Mitch Johnson was asked about Sochan’s return to the starting lineup being permanent after the game and while he wasn’t conclusive he hinted that Sochan will continue to start.
• Chris Paul went scoreless but dished nine assists. An emerging issue is that opponents have figured out that they can bother him when they put a bigger defender on him and apply pressure. Paul smartly defers to other guards when that happens, but the Spurs don’t have a lot of experienced playmakers, so they get into their sets late. Tre Jones’ return could help there.
• Stephon Castle had a nightmare of a game in his return to the bench. There were good moments, but he overdribbled and forced things on offense (two points on eight shots, five assists but three turnovers) and wasn’t a factor on defense. It’s normal for a rookie to struggle, so this performance is not a huge deal, but on a night in which Devin Vassell didn’t have it, Castle’s inability to make an impact was felt.
• Julian Champagnie didn’t have it going from outside but continued to shoot and found ways to contribute in other ways. Harrison Barnes just made timely buckets, especially in the third. The two continue to play well enough to keep their starting spots, which is a good problem for Coach Johnson.
• Three deep bench guys probably should have played more. Blake Wesley when he was on the floor and with Castle struggling could have helped. Sandro Mamukelashvili only got nine minutes in part because the Spurs went small with Champagnie at power forward a couple of times but made a three and had a pretty assist. Charles Bassey got his 15 minutes but some of those came in garbage time. Johnson tweaked Wemby’s on-court pattern by leaving him on the floor a little longer in the first quarter and not resting him in the fourth. Victor looked gassed late, so more Bassey earlier would have probably been a good idea.

Next game: vs. Atlanta Hawks on Thursday

The Spurs will have three days off to get healthy. Beating the Hawks is doubly important, as San Antonio owns Atlanta’s 2025 draft pick.