Spurs 115, Timberwolves 108: Back To Reality

It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Game 3 between the Timberwolves and the San Antonio Spurs got off to a weird start at Target Center. Minnesota had an incredibly difficult time putting the ball in the basket, missing its first 12 shots and committing four turnovers, going down 11-1 to start the game.

The Wolves didn’t get their first field goal until nearly seven minutes into the game when Rudy Gobert put back a miss by Anthony Edwards. Before that basket, the Wolves were down by 15 points and seemed to be trending toward a second straight blowout loss.

Just like it has so often this season, though, the Wolves immediately turned it around. They closed the quarter, making seven of their last eight shots while on a 19-5 run.

The last make came at the buzzer from Edwards to put his team down by just a single point.

The Timberwolves opened the second quarter with buckets from Edwards and Naz Reid, suddenly up by three points. Edwards scored a total of 13 points in the first quarter and 19 in the first half. More importantly, for the first time in this series, he looked like his superstar self.

In the previous round against the Denver Nuggets, that would be the point in the game when their opponent would fold. The Spurs, instead, stopped the slide right there and took the lead back late in the second quarter.

The Wolves weren’t satisfied with just one buzzer-beater in the first half, though, as Jaden McDaniels knocked down a left-wing 3-pointer to send the game into halftime with a tied score.

In the second half, the two teams leaned into their advantages. The Spurs pushed the ball multiple times off of made baskets by the Wolves and blitzed Edwards with two defenders to get the ball out of his hands.

The Wolves used their strength advantage to outscore the Spurs 30-12 on second chance points while draining eight 3-pointers in the second half to keep the game close.

The game remained incredibly close until the final moments of the game. Following a Finch timeout with five minutes left, and a dustup with Crew Chief Tony Brothers, the Wolves found themselves down two with the ball. The game swung on the next couple of possessions.

Coming out of the timeout, Edwards missed a contested stepback 3-pointer while Dylan Harper beat Julius Randle backdoor to put the Spurs up by four. The next possession, Ayo Dosunmu missed a floater, and after a timeout of their own, Wembanyama drained a turnaround fadeaway over Gobert to put his team up by six.

The Timberwolves responded with a 3-pointer from Reid, only for Wembanyama to hit the dagger on the other end as he put in his third make from deep of the game to put the Spurs back up by six.

The Wolves fought back but were never able to get the game close again, falling 115-108 in Game 3 and dropping the series 2-1.

Wembanyama was incredible in this game as he put up 39 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks (the first of which should have been called a goaltend) while holding the Wolves to just 38 points in the paint. 16 of Wembanyama’s points came in the fourth quarter.

Edwards has his best game of this postseason with 32 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists while playing 40 minutes in the game.

Randle was the sore spot in this game for Minnesota, as he had 12 points on 3-12 shooting and did not have a single assist in the game. McDaniels also had a poor shooting night as he went 5-22 from the field en route to 17 points.

This series was always going to be a tough, incredibly tough one for the Timberwolves. They are missing one of their starters, Donte DiVincenzo, his replacement, Ayo Dosunmu, is not 100 percent, and they are going up against a 62-win team with a seven and a half foot alien.

The Wolves have played well in this series. The 38-point loss in Game 2 is an obvious disaster, but in Games 1 and 3, they have shown the ability to beat this Spurs team.

What will be required from them now, if they want to win this series, is that they will need to play better than just good. They will need to play great and will need to do it for an entire 48 minutes three more times in the next four games.

They can’t fall behind double-digits early because the offense doesn’t know what to do, they can’t let the Spurs beat them down the floor multiple times after made shots, and they need to execute better down the stretch when the opponent is hard-doubling Edwards.

In this era of Timberwolves basketball, they have always responded after games like these last two. Whenever it seems like a series or a season is slipping away, they come back with their best basketball.

Game 4, like it usually is, will be a big swing point in this series. A loss might signal the end of the season, while a win puts the Wolves in a good spot to advance to their third consecutive Western Conference Finals.

The blueprint is there for the Wolves to get back into this series; now they just have to execute.

Up Next

This Timberwolves-Spurs series resumes on Sunday with Game 4 on Mother’s Day as the Wolves look to even up the series at 2-2. The game will begin at 6:30 PM CT, and fans can watch the game on both NBC and Peacock.

Highlights