Victor Wembanyama asserted himself in his Game 5 return vs. Minnesota, finishing with 27 points and 17 rebounds.
By the time the Timberwolves boarded their charter jet late Tuesday for the flight home to the Twin Cities, they probably would have preferred a case of “Montezuma’s revenge” to the Victor Wembanyama payback they suffered in the 126-97 loss in Game 5 to San Antonio’s Spurs.
Wembanyama, the Spurs center whose nasty elbow and subsequent ejection Sunday defined Game 4, returned to the series like a force of nature.
He had game highs in points (27), rebounds (17), free throws (7-for-9) and blocked shots (3) to bounce back at Frost Bank Center and stake the Spurs to a 3-2 series lead.
Game 6 (9:30 ET, Prime Video) is Friday at Target Center.
Here are four takeaways from San Antonio’s resounding performance at home:
1. Wembanyama’s pitch-perfect response
That Wembanyama simultaneously put behind him his angry outburst in Game 4 and fired back from it in the most profound way was impressive for a 22-year-old.
He had the basketball world’s eyes upon him and dialed up his game across the board – offense, defense, guile, intensity – to 11.
Wembanyama hadn’t spoken publicly since his banishment from the Target Center bowl for slamming his right elbow into Wolves forward Naz Reid’s neck in the second quarter that night. He answered primarily with his play, sparking the Spurs with 18 points in the first 12 minutes Tuesday.
But when he did talk afterward, it was clear he burned to set things right.
After hemming and hawing initially at the podium, Wembanyama’s voice stiffened.
“I feel like the rage-baiting would have been one of the strategies,” he said, “so I feel like I had to stay composed.”
The 7-foot-4 funhouse masterpiece handled the expected banging and jostling of the 2026 playoffs, avoided any particular confrontation and went about paying back Minnesota in the manner that hurt most.
He and his Spurs teammates had each other’s back and it showed, in the focus that had them hitting 53% of their shots, in the greed of grabbing 68 of their points in the paint, and in the defensive cohesiveness that limited the Wolves to 32 fewer field goals.
“The one word I like to use is just ‘mature,’” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. There’s a lot that’s happened in the last 48 hours since that last game, and how that young man came out and played in a variety of situations, not just his production, was very mature.”
2. Third quarter told the tale
The best thing Minnesota managed all night was its response after halftime, the effectiveness it showed in erasing San Antonio’s 59-47 lead in almost no time.
Barely four minutes passed before the Wolves, following Anthony Edwards’ and Ayo Dosunmo’s leads, pulled even at 61-61. The worst thing Minnesota did all night, alas, was letting go of the game’s rope from there. The Spurs outscored them 30-12 the rest of that quarter and 65-36 from the tie to the final horn.
The Wolves’ concentration and discipline waned, and maybe some of their stamina too.
They trailed by as much as 30 points in the fourth.
“We went away from what was working,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said, “and then our defense was crazy – 30 points in I think the last [seven] minutes of the third quarter. A lot of it was just ball contain.
“Offensively we found something that was working, and then we started breaking off plays. That’s my job I’ve got to get us back on track, that’s on me.”
3. Keldon Johnson brings the Sixth Man energy
The ingredients that went into Johnson’s Sixth Man Award-winning regular season – aggressiveness, energy, scoring skills bravado and a tiny conscience on the court – had been in short supply in the playoffs. He had averaged just 7.3 points on 38% shooting, contributing only single digits in points in seven of the Spurs’ nine games.
That changed Tuesday. Johnson scored 21 points in 22 minutes on 8-for-11 shooting. He matched by himself Minnesota’s three best bench scorers, kept possessions alive, drew fouls to take air out of the Wolves’ defense and made a nuisance of himself as long as he was in the game. The sturdy native of Chesterfield, Va., by way of a single season at Kentucky was one of those Manu Ginobili-Tony Parker draft picks by San Antonio – No. 29 in 2019 – and he played like that.
“He was just being himself,” Mitch Johnson said. “He wasn’t trying to do something or be anything. As he’s shown in his career, when he plays with that energy, the basketball finds him. He’s in the middle of plays, he’s in gang-rebound situations. He’s a catalyst for that energy and that physicality and that dynamic of our team, and we need it.”
He wasn’t alone. Rookie Dylan Harper is such an essential member of San Antonio’s three-headed backcourt with De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle that Harper seems like a sixth starter. He made several highlight plays in the open court, chipping in 12 points and 10 rebounds, five offensively.
Both Fox and Harper had begun the day as “questionable” on the injury report, but they were cleared and determined to play well before tipoff.
“Those guys to have performances like that, was as strong a statement in that locker room for us as Victor’s,” Johnson said.
4. Two days to set up Game 6
Compared to the first round that moved in fits and starts across the late April and early May calendar, this series has unspooled rapidly with a game every other night. From Texas to the Twin Cities and back, the pace and the miles starting to show and be felt.
Now, finally, there’s a relative pause, with two open days before Friday’s Game 6.
A few players specifically seem ripe for a breather: Edwards’ aching knees can catch an additional 24 hours of treatment, while veteran teammate Julius Randle can regroup from his raggedly play to this point.
Frankly there’s no one on either team who is about to grumble over not rushing back out there Thursday.
“I’m ready to get two days,” Edwards said. “I’m excited for it.”
There’s a mental breather in play now too, a chance for one team to reset for this win-or-go-home situation, the other to grasp the opportunity/urgency of a free shot to avoid Game 7.
Said Edwards: “I don’t see nobody in the locker room that’s too worried.”
* * *
Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.