The San Antonio Spurs outclassed the Minnesota Timberwolves 139-109 in a Game 6 win Friday, securing a spot in the Western Conference finals.
The win propelled the Spurs to a matchup against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. It also denied the Timberwolves a third consecutive appearance in the West finals.
San Antonio is in the West finals for the first time since 2017.
The Timberwolves never led and watched the Spurs’ lead reach 37 points. The Spurs won Game 5 on Tuesday by 29 points and Game 2 by 38.
Second-year Spurs guard Stephon Castle scored 32 points, one point off his career playoff high (set in Game 3 of the first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers), and was 5-of-7 on 3-pointers. Castle also had 11 rebounds.
De’Aaron Fox added 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and recorded nine assists, and Victor Wembanyama scored 19 points for the Spurs. Anthony Edwards (9-of-26) led the Timberwolves with 24 points. Terrence Shannon Jr. had 21 points off the bench.
Here are key takeaways from Game 6:
Spurs’ basketball identity on full display
The Spurs’ series ended the way it needed to. Their guards tormented the Wolves, and Wembanyama was a defensive force Minnesota could not overcome.
This was the Spurs’ identity at its absolute best, overwhelming the opponent with speed and touch at the rim.
Castle became the first Spurs player with at least 30 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five 3-pointers in a playoff game. It was borderline perfection from the “Slash Brothers,” Castle and Dylan Harper, with their mentor, Fox. This was a crucial coda to the series for Fox, who was unstoppable offensively to finish a mostly rough series for him.
His scoring will be sorely needed against the Thunder, who have the trickiest defense in the league and will push the Spurs’ young guys to their limits. His composure and savvy were instrumental in carving up the Wolves defense in Game 6, and the Spurs will need his best to get past the Thunder.
The Spurs proved in this series that their approach works. Against a ravaging defense that pushed everyone to their emotional and physical limits, the team always found a matchup to exploit or a ballhandler to develop some flow, or it used Wemby’s gravity to open things up. The Spurs guarded their yard fairly well and funneled things into Wembanyama effectively, even when the Wolves got creative.
The Spurs always had answers and slammed the door hard once they looked human after Game 4. They’ve done whatever they can to this point to prove they are worthy of being NBA champions. Now they have to go through the throne-sitters to find out if what appears to be real is in fact the truth. — Jared Weiss, Spurs writer
Fox delivers when Spurs need it most
For one day, at least, the vision couldn’t possibly have worked better.
Fox, a max-contract guy, was worth every cent as the Spurs closed out Minnesota in dominant fashion. Through three quarters — at which point the competitive part of Game 6 was over — Fox was dynamic and efficient. He finished with 21 points on 10 shots, had nine assists against one turnover and was a game-high plus-26.
Fox made all three of his 3-pointers, stood his ground against bigger Minnesota wings on defense and shook off an injury to his right leg late in the first half to lead a series-clinching Spurs surge in the third quarter. When it was done, San Antonio had amassed 110 points in just 36 minutes and was well on its way to its first conference finals appearance since 2017.
It hasn’t always been that easy for Fox, who has been up and down this postseason and has, at times, had Spurs fans wondering whether Harper was the better on-court fit. Also, with a four-year, $222 million extension for Fox due to kick in next season, the expectations bar is high regardless of what Harper does. Friday, Fox cleared it with miles to spare. — John Hollinger, NBA senior writer
Wolves with another disappointing finish
This is the third straight season the Timberwolves have seen an impressive run in the playoffs end with a whimper.
They were down by as many as 29 points in the first half, only showing a heartbeat during a little run in the second quarter that trimmed the deficit to 12, but they never got any closer.
It continues an ugly trend. Minnesota lost Game 5 of the 2024 Western Conference finals to the Dallas Mavericks by 21 points in a game that was over after the first quarter. Last season, the Wolves lost Game 5 in Oklahoma City by 30 points.
When they let go of the rope, they really let go of it.
It was a disappointing end to an inspiring run for the short-handed Wolves. They beat the Denver Nuggets in the first round, even after losing Donte DiVincenzo to an Achilles injury and Anthony Edwards to a knee injury. They took Game 1 in San Antonio without Ayo Dosunmu.
But with Edwards’ knees aching and his frontcourt failing him miserably, the Wolves were never in Friday’s game. Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert combined to go 5-of-25 from the field for 16 points. It was the worst game the trio has played all season collectively, and it came at the worst possible time. Randle missed 7 of 8 shots and scored just 3 points. Gobert went scoreless and had only three rebounds.
It will raise questions about the viability of that frontcourt as the Wolves go into the summer needing a serious change to compete with San Antonio and Oklahoma City in the West.
The Wolves do not measure up to these teams. Now, the pressure will be on president of basketball operations Tim Connelly to find some answers around Edwards. — Jon Krawczynski, Wolves writer