It says a lot about the San Antonio Spurs' progress this season that recent postgame criticism centered not on winning and losing but on how their latest victory was accomplished.
Coming off a win against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Spurs battled the Minnesota Timberwolves for their final meeting of the season. After a slow first quarter, the Spurs’ offense exploded in the second, outscoring the Wolves 48-22.
There’s something about Victor Wembanyama that brings out the best in Anthony Edwards, and yesterday was no different. The Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard essentially took the game away from Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs, scoring 55 points in a tightly contested 126-123 thriller.
It may officially be the second half of the season, but one thing that hasn’t change since the first is the Spurs’ inability to hold onto a large lead against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It's hard for everything to go right in the NBA, whether that's due to managerial decisions, bad luck with injuries, or other factors. In league history, there are some moments that stand out, moments that could have gone in a completely different direction and drastically changed the league.
Victor Wembanyama has spent the last three years bending the NBA in ways that still don’t feel totally real. The 21-year-old French superstar immediately won Rookie of the Year honors in his first campaign with the Spurs, but had his second season cut short due to Deep Vein Thrombosis.
The San Antionio Spurs will look to salvage a game in the season series with Minnesota and solidify their place in the Western Conference standings when they host the Timberwolves on Saturday.
It's a sign that the Spurs, losers of four of their last six games, are deciding to get rid of extraneous distractions and get serious at the season's midway point.
After dropping its first three games to San Antonio this season, Oklahoma City was finally able to overcome its season-long shortcomings with a 119-98 win on Tuesday.