Wembanyama's 43 powers Spurs past short-handed Timberwolves

Victor Wembanyama arrived at Frost Bank Center on Halloween dressed as Geralt of Rivia, the monster-slayer, and then played the part. The San Antonio Spurs star scored a season-high 43 points, with seven rebounds, six blocks and four assists, as San Antonio beat the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves 121-111 on Saturday, 31 October, for a fourth straight victory.

It was not a quiet 43. Wembanyama took a career-high 34 shots, making 17, scored 24 points in the first half, and reached 40 points for the 10th time in a regular-season game.

"He's just so dominant," second-year guard Dylan Harper said. "When he puts his imprint on the game, he's unstoppable. He did that tonight from the jump to the end of the game."

How the game turned

San Antonio led most of the first quarter and settled for a 34-28 edge after De'Aaron Fox's three-point play in the closing seconds.

Minnesota refused to fold. After LaMelo Ball picked up his fourth foul with 7:40 left in the first half, the Timberwolves answered with a 16-0 run, capped by Trey Lyles' free throws, to take a 51-46 lead. They built the advantage to seven before back-to-back Wembanyama three-pointers pulled San Antonio within 61-60 at half-time, despite Minnesota outscoring the Spurs 33-26 in the second quarter.

The second half belonged to the home team. San Antonio opened the third quarter on a 13-4 run that included Ball's fifth foul, and Harper's dunk at the 7:54 mark made it 73-65. When Jaden McDaniels' jumper cut the gap to four with 6:49 to play, San Antonio answered with a 6-2 spurt and was never seriously threatened again.

The supporting numbers matched the eye test. Wembanyama, Harper and Fox combined for 90 of San Antonio's 121 points, San Antonio won the rebounding battle 49-38, and Wembanyama's late corner three stretched the lead to 118-107 with 2:40 remaining.

Harper and Fox set the table

Harper set a regular-season career high with 25 points on 9-of-17 shooting, adding seven rebounds and six assists, Fox scored 22 points with eight rebounds and seven assists, and San Antonio looked most comfortable when he took control late, slipping to the rim in pick-and-roll. Julian Champagnie added 12 points off the bench.

Stephon Castle's contribution will not show up in a scoring line, and it mattered anyway.

Wembanyama framed the night in terms of feel rather than force. "It's pattern recognition," he said. "The brain, after so many games, literally hundreds of games now in the NBA, knows what kind of game to go towards to have fun. Whenever we score, we get good results, positive feedback for the brain. There's always ups and downs, but we're trending in the right direction."

A depleted Timberwolves side, still dangerous

Minnesota's problems were clear before tip-off. The Timberwolves were already without Anthony Edwards, recovering from knee surgery, and Donte DiVincenzo, after Achilles surgery, and then lost Gobert to lower back spasms. It was their third defeat in four games, dropping them to 4-3, while San Antonio improved to 4-2.

Even so, Minnesota produced a genuine fight. Ayo Dosunmu led the Timberwolves with 27 points and nine rebounds, McDaniels and Kuminga scored 19 points each, and Joan Beringer added 12. Ball's night, by contrast, unravelled: limited to 20 minutes by foul trouble, he finished with 10 points on 2-of-10 shooting, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals before fouling out with 3:43 remaining.

That context makes the Spurs' win more than a star scoring line. San Antonio trailed at half-time, absorbed Minnesota's best punch, and then controlled the second half. For San Antonio, the win follows a 36-point outing from Wembanyama in his previous game, and he has now paired at least 40 points with at least five blocks for the first time since David Robinson did it for the Spurs in 1996.

Minnesota must regroup quickly. The Timberwolves host the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night, while the Spurs host the Utah Jazz the same night. If Edwards and Gobert remain out, Minnesota will need another night like Dosunmu's, and better foul discipline from Ball, to avoid this loss becoming the start of a slide. For now, Halloween in San Antonio belonged to one player, in costume and in control, and to a Spurs team that is starting to look like it knows exactly how to use him.