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Can Anthony Edwards and the Wolves push Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs off their playoff course in the semifinals?<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a><\/p>\n The San Antonio Spurs might have anticipated a semifinal showdown with Denver, which finished one spot behind them in the West seedings. But Minnesota\u2019s upset of the Nuggets out of the sixth seed scuttled that prospect, while introducing a new dynamic to Round 2. The NBA would be salivating over the marketing dream of Victor Wembanyama vs. Anthony Edwards, two of the league\u2019s brightest young stars, locked in battle for four to seven games \u2026 if Edwards were available. He\u2019ll start the series on the injury list (L knee hyperextension\/bone bruise), so one of the storylines in this one will be whether the Timberwolves\u2019 scoring star can recover and join the fray.<\/p>\n Series schedule<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how to watch the Spurs vs. Timberwolves series:<\/p>\n All times Eastern Standard Time<\/p>\n Game 1: Minnesota at San Antonio (TBD) * = If necessary<\/p>\n Top storyline<\/p>\n New kids eager to unseat veterans. The last time San Antonio reached the playoffs was 2019, when Gregg Popovich was still on their sideline, current coach Mitch Johnson was working with the NBA G League team in Austin and Wembanyama was a gangly 15-year-old six months away from his first pro experience with Nanterre 92 in the Euro Cup League. Now that the Spurs are here, though, they aren\u2019t interested in taking baby steps. They at least want what the Wolves have had: consecutive trips to the Western Conference Finals, the only NBA team to reach that round in 2024<\/a> and \u201925<\/a>.<\/p>\n No one can blame Minnesota, then, if its players and coaches feel a little turfy as this series begins. They want to take the next logical step to the NBA Finals, so they aren\u2019t inclined to concede a thing. The Wolves aren\u2019t an old team, but their experience is one edge they\u2019ll try to flex in this series. That includes coach Chris Finch, who found the lineups and exploited the matchups necessary to oust Denver in the last round despite a shorthanded roster.<\/p>\n Keep your eyes on<\/p>\n Victor Wembanyama vs. Rudy Gobert. Parallels abound in this series, with both teams boasting excellent perimeter defenders (San Antonio\u2019s Stephon Castle and Minnesota\u2019s Jaden McDaniels), respected old heads (De\u2019Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes vs. Mike Conley and Julius Randle) and past or present Kia Sixth Man winners<\/a> (Keldon Johnson and Naz Reid). The showdown at center, however, is the sizzle. Gobert, 33, was a role model and mentor in France for Wembanyama, 22, and a four-time Kia Defensive Player of the Year<\/a> who has just seen his Spurs counterpart win his first DPOY. The 7-foot-1 Gobert just wrapped an inspired series against the league\u2019s best offensive center, Nikola Joki\u0107. Now he\u2019ll have to contend with its best all-around center, who happens to have three or four inches on him. Gobert\u2019s mobility is good, allowing him to track Wembanyama wherever he goes in the halfcourt. But the younger fellow is a gazelle by comparison when the pace dials up.<\/p>\n One more thing to watch for each team<\/p>\n For San Antonio: Wembanyama\u2019s on\/off impact. Whether dictated by the big guy\u2019s stamina or by management\u2019s desire to protect him from injury, Wembanyama\u2019s playing time is closely monitored. When he plays, he averages fewer than 30 minutes. Mix in injuries and he is on the court less than half the time (1,866 of the team\u2019s 3,946 minutes in the regular season, 112 of 240 against first-round foe Portland). How do the Spurs fare when he\u2019s sitting? They\u2019re about 10 points worse per 100 possessions, almost all of it coming from the defensive end. The Wolves need to maximize their scoring when Wemby isn\u2019t on the floor to alter, contest or swat their shots.<\/p>\n For Minnesota:\u00a0Edwards\u2019 injury status<\/a>. The latest timeline for the brash shooting guard\u2019s return was deemed \u201cweek to week.\u201d Once this series begins Monday at Frost Bank Center, the games come rapidly, at an every-other-day clip through the first five. Assuming there\u2019s still unfinished business at that point, Game 6 is scheduled for May 15, with Game 7 two days beyond that. The four-time All-Star was a force in the three meetings this season, averaging 36.7 points and nailing 51.9% of his 3-pointers.<\/p>\n One key number to know<\/p>\n 13.0 \u2014\u00a0In beating the Nuggets, the Timberwolves held what was\u00a0the league\u2019s No. 1 offense<\/a>\u00a0to just\u00a0108.2 points per 100 possessions<\/a>, 13.0 fewer than Denver scored in the regular season. It was the Nuggets\u2019 worst six-game stretch of offense all year, even with Joki\u0107 having missed 16 straight in December and January.<\/p>\n The Wolves ranked\u00a0eighth<\/a>\u00a0defensively in the regular season, making it their worst of the last three. But they turned the defense up in the first round and shut down the league\u2019s best offense to advance for the third straight postseason.<\/p>\n The Wolves allowed 116 points per 100 possessions in their three regular-season games against San Antonio, which was the 10th-best defensive mark<\/a>\u00a0against the Spurs. But that broke down to an outrageous 133.9 per 100<\/a> in 58 minutes with Wembanyama on the floor and just 102.2 per 100 in 86 minutes with Wembanyama off it.<\/p>\n \u2014 John Schuhmann<\/p>\n The pick<\/p>\n Spurs in five. If Edwards were ready to go from the start, we might have a seven-game classic on our hands. But barring a key injury on the Spurs side (a.k.a. Wemby) as this plays out, it\u2019s hard to imagine Minnesota having enough scoring to slow San Antonio\u2019s roll. Certainly, its dominance in the paint against Denver will need to be reconfigured with Wembanyama guarding the rim. Backup 7-footer Luke Kornet is a solid Plan B when the big guy sits, a star in his role (double-double man per 36 minutes). And San Antonio\u2019s backcourt rotation and overall depth provide Johnson with the flexibility to react or dictate styles as the case requires.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him\u00a0here<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nGame 2: Minnesota at San Antonio\u00a0(TBD)
\nGame 3:\u00a0San Antonio at Minnesota (TBD)
\nGame 4: San Antonio at Minnesota\u00a0(TBD)
\nGame 5: Minnesota at San Antonio\u00a0(TBD)*
\nGame 6: San Antonio at Minnesota (TBD)*
\nGame 7: Minnesota at San Antonio\u00a0(TBD)*<\/p>\n