SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs will have star centre Victor Wembanyama back on the court when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday (Wednesday morning, Singapore time) in Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference semi-finals.
The series is tied 2-2 after the Timberwolves won Game 4 114-109 on Sunday in Minneapolis. Game 6 will be back in the Twin Cities on Friday, with a deciding Game 7 (if necessary) set for Sunday in the Alamo City.
Minnesota rode Anthony Edwards’ 36 points to a Game 4 victory in which the Spurs were without Wembanyama for more than two and a half quarters. He was ejected from the contest with 8:39 to play in the second quarter after being assessed a Flagrant 2 technical foul for swinging his right elbow into the neck of the Timberwolves’ Naz Reid while in a scrum.
It was Wembanyama’s first career ejection and certainly changed the complexion of the game and the series. The NBA announced on Monday that he would not face further disciplinary action, meaning he can fully participate in Tuesday’s pivotal game.
“It shows how deep we can dig and the toughness that we have,” Reid said of the Wolves. “We have a lot more basketball to play. We’ve been through a lot. We’ve been together, been to two Western Conference Finals. That’s the experience they talk about.”
Some have pointed to Wembanyama’s inexperience in the playoffs for his ejection, but Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said the 22-year-old phenom has taken a beating all year long – not just in the postseason.
“At some point (Wembanyama is) gonna have to protect himself,” Johnson said.
“We’ve been asking him to do that now for a while. The call was warranted, but in terms of the game plan of every single team we face since that young man’s been in the league, the physicality that people try to impose on him and the lack of protection is really disappointing.”
Even without Wembanyama, San Antonio built an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter before the mercurial Edwards took charge.
“Honestly, I think it was kind of harder (without Wembanyama),” Edwards said. “Of course, they are a really great team with him on the floor, but they play a lot slower when he’s on the floor. It’s just like when every team is missing their best player and everyone (else) plays free, more confident.”
One thing for sure, Wembanyama is set to influence Game 5 and the series in one way or another.
Meanwhile on Monday, the Oklahoma City Thunder swept the Los Angeles Lakers out of the playoffs, winning 115-110 to wrap up a 4-0 series victory in what could turn out to be the final game of LeBron James’ career.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points as the defending champions advanced to the Western Conference Finals after sealing their second sweep of the postseason following a 4-0 first-round defeat of Phoenix.
Elsewhere, Donovan Mitchell scored a playoff-record-tying 39 points in the second half and finished with 43, powering the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 112-103 victory over the visiting Detroit Pistons in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference clash.
The Cavaliers, who tied the series 2-2, put together a 24-0 run spanning half-time to stun the top-seeded Pistons. REUTERS, AFP