NBA Confirms One Mistake in Spurs' Loss to Timberwolves

Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

NBA Confirms One Mistake in Spurs' Loss to Timberwolves

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Angelo Guinhawa | Last updated May 5, 2026 9:09 PM ET

The San Antonio Spurs lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals series on Monday night, 104-102.

Victor Wembanyama had a sensational triple-double of 11 points, 15 rebounds and 12 blocks, along with five assists. However, his efforts were not enough to take down a Minnesota team led by Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards.

Randle tallied 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Edwards recorded 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting to lead the Timberwolves to a narrow victory on the road.

The Spurs were able to make it a 104-102 game off a Devin Vassell steal and a Dylan Harper layup with 31 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, San Antonio failed to take advantage of Randle's miss with eight seconds left, as Julian Champagnie missed what could have been a game-winning triple at the buzzer.

While the game was thrilling from start to finish, it wasn't without issues. In fact, the NBA's Last Two Minute Report cited one missed call.

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama (1) looks on during a game.© Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

With 1:13 remaining, Champagnie rebounded a missed layup from Wembanyama, but he fell to the floor after getting hit by Randle and had to quickly pass the ball to his All-Star center. After Wemby missed for the second straight time, Champagnie got the rebound again and proceeded to score himself.

According to the L2M Report, however, Randle should have been called for a foul on Champagnie since he was the reason the Spurs forward fell to the floor.

"Randle (MIN) extends his forearm into Champagnie's (SAS) upper body and delivers contact that dislodges him as he secures the rebound. This contact is what causes Champagnies' elbow to touch the baseline out of bounds, which is a violation," the L2M Report noted.

The good news is that Champagnie was still able to score and that his out-of-bounds violation was not called either. It would have been disastrous had Champagnie turned the ball over when he was actually fouled.

At the end of the day, though, the Spurs lost and will need to bounce back in Game 2 if they want to avoid falling into a 2-0 hole as they head to Minnesota.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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