The San Antonio Spurs folded in Minnesota against the Timberwolves, going 2-2 on their nine-day road trip. The latter was on the second night of a back-to-back, but they still had the legs to down a surplus of jumpers, and San Antonio’s half-court defense was shredded, which was ultimately their undoing.
The Spurs weren’t facing too much resistance in the lane early and benefitted from five Minnesota turnovers, but they were slow on the draw, covering the three-point line and allowed Anthony Edwards to get hot, so there wasn’t much separation in the first quarter. On top of that, De’Aaron Fox’s first rest after five minutes caused a slight speed bump, but the bench asserted itself with 14 points going into the second quarter.
Fox battered coverages and was the team’s safety net, checking back in when Minnesota sliced away their lead. Eventually, the Spurs were vulnerable when they went small with Jeremy Sochan minutes at center. There was no shot blocker to cool off all the action headed towards the lane. Still, they went to halftime ahead by one and were shooting 83.3 percent at the rim. Their biggest concerns were Edwards and Julius Randle combining for 31 points on 65 percent accuracy.
Naturally, Minnesota raised the pressure on Fox, yet Devin Vassell took over, making four shots on the right side. Then Dylan Harper followed his lead, setting the tone for the bench unit that scored on five straight possessions in the latter stage of the third quarter. They could only take a four-point lead going into the fourth because Edwards was like the boogeyman on their heels, responding with 13 points in the frame.
Coach Mitch Johnson said, “At the start of the third quarter, I thought our activity, resistance, togetherness defensively was really poor. We turned them over, I believe, zero times in the third quarter, so we just didn’t have that level of presence on or off the basketball.”
The corner coverage that followed was awful and they couldn’t contain the dribble, eventually finding themselves in a 14-point ditch with five minutes left. Fox and Keldon Johnson tried putting the team on their shoulders, but the schemes didn’t hold up as Minnesota made an immaculate six attempts in the paint in the fourth quarter. Despite four Spurs logging between eight and 12 shots, they lost 125-112, making it the fifth time this season they’ve given up that many points or more (2-3).