MINNEAPOLIS – Victor Wembanyama tried to keep cool after the latest, biggest playoff win of his playoff career.
“We haven’t done anything yet,” the Spurs’ All-Star said.
It is true the Spurs still have work to do to advance past Minnesota and into their first Western Conference final since 2017.
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They took a large and necessary step Friday, gritting out a 115-108 victory in Game 3 at the Target Center, seizing a 2-1 lead in the series and reclaiming home-court advantage.
Wembanyama led the way with a postseason-high 39 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks, while De’Aaron Fox shook off a slow start to finish with 17 points.
Stephon Castle logged a postseason-high 12 assists to go with his 13 points. Heading into Friday with the series tied 1-1, the Spurs knew they needed to win at least one of the next two games in Minnesota to avoid a 3-1 hole.
They also knew it would be a tall task. The Spurs had dropped their previous seven games at the Target Center, a streak that pre-dates Wembanyama’s arrival in 2023.
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Having accomplished that goal in their first try Friday, the Spurs enter Game 4 on Sunday with a chance to deliver the Wolves a staggering blow.
“Get greedy and try to win the rest of the games for the rest of the series,” Castle said.
Anthony Edwards dazzled in his first start in the series. Minnesota’s All-Star guard had 32 points in 41 minutes and at times seemed capable of dragging the Timberwolves to victory on a pair of bad knees.
The Spurs cooled Edwards off in the fourth quarter, and the Spurs’ own star took over.
Wembanyama had 16 of his points, six of his rebounds and two of his blocks during the fourth quarter as the Spurs gutted out the win.
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“I would say it was more like holding the ship together,” Wembanyama said. “We had a lead. We didn’t need to rush. We needed to be consistent. Rather than doing incredible things or amazing things, we needed to avoid mistakes.”
Castle summed up Wembanyama’s contributions to Game 3 this way:
“Without him,” Castle said, “I don’t know if we win tonight.”
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) wins the tip-off against Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first half of Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals at Target Center in Minneapolis, Friday, May 8, 2026. (Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News)
Here are three takeaways from Friday’s victory, which puts the Spurs in firm control of the series:
1. Wemby’s foul-free finish was flawless
Of all the numbers in Wembanyama’s fourth-quarter box score, one was probably most important.
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He logged zero fouls in the final six minutes, and that allowed the 7-foot-4 Frenchman to close out the game in dominating fashion.
Wembanyama picked up his fifth foul with 6:18 to play when he swiped at Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels. The pair of free throws McDaniels made brought the Wolves within 99-98.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson had a decision to make.
Leave Wembanyama in, and risk is most important player fouling out in crunch time? Or give Wembanyama a few minutes on the bench, and risk the Timberwolves taking the lead?
Johnson opted to ride with Wembanyama.
“We were going to not leave any bullets in the chamber in terms of keeping him on the bench,” Johnson said. “We were going to play him and then if he fouled out, we deal that when we got to it.”
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Wembanyama made that choice pay off.
From that point forward, Wembanyama scored seven points. He hit Rudy Gobert with a fadeaway off the glass that Wembanyama said he learned from Hakeem Olajuwon.
He answered a Naz Reid 3-pointer with one of his own. He drove and dumped the ball to Dylan Harper for another basket.
Most significantly, he did all of that without committing a sixth foul that would have removed him from the game.
2. Sweeney making his mark on the series
The Spurs put on other rock-solid defensive performance Friday, limiting the Wolves to 38.4% shooting.
They set the tone for that in the first quarter, holding Minnesota without its first field goal until the 5:11 mark of the frame.
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The Timberwolves missed their first 12 shots, as the Spurs built an 18-3 lead in the first quarter.
Though Minnesota eventually battled back to pull within a point by the end of the frame, the Spurs had already announced their intentions in Game 3.
Those intentions were not good.
One helping of credit for the Spurs’ defensive dominance goes to Wembanyama, the youngest and only unanimous Defensive Player of the Year in league history.
The other goes to associate head coach Sean Sweeney, who was hired away from Dallas last summer to construct a defensive monster around Wembanyama.
San Antonio Spurs guard De’aaron Fox (4) celebrates the Spurs’ win after Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals at Target Center in Minneapolis, Friday, May 8, 2026. The Spurs defeated the Timberwolves 115-108, leading the series 2-1. (Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News)
That is showing itself in the playoffs.
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The Spurs’ 133-95 victory in Game 2 marked the fourth time this postseason the Spurs limited a team to under 100 points.
Minnesota got to 108 on Friday, the most the Spurs have allowed in eight playoff games.
That still isn’t much.
The Spurs are snuffing out opponents so far this spring. Give Sweeney kudos for that.
3. Edwards shows guts, but guts aren’t enough
Playing through a bone bruise in his left knee and runner’s knee in his right, Edwards clearly doesn’t have the elevation and explosion that make him one of the league’s toughest players to guard.
That he was able to 32 points anyway Friday is testament to his own perseverance.
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Edwards scored 13 points in the first quarter, including a 31-foot heave at the horn, to help the Timberwolves emerge from their early doldrums.
Playing 41 minutes – nearly double what he played in the series opener on Monday – Edwards labored down the stretch.
The Spurs tandem of Castle and Devin Vassell teamed up to limit Edwards to five points in the fourth quarter. Edwards ended 12 of 26 from the field, proof the Spurs made him work for his points.
The Wolves’ chances of evening the series in Game 4 might hinge on the question of whether Edwards’ knees are getting better as the series goes along, or whether they get worse.
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This article originally published at 3 Takeaways as Wembanyama, Spurs seize Game 3 from Timberwolves.