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\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a><\/p>\n The scene inside Target Center was volatile. San Antonio\u2019s Victor Wembanyama had just leveled Naz Reid by slamming his right elbow into the Minnesota forward\u2019s neck after getting sandwiched in a rough double-team.<\/p>\n Timberwolves fans were irate, while the Spurs and their faithful feared the worst.<\/p>\n That\u2019s exactly what they got, too, after the game officials and the Replay Center in Secaucus, N.J., reviewed Wembanyma\u2019s emotional, reflexive response. They assessed a Flagrant 2 foul, automatically disqualifying the Spurs center from the 32 minutes or so left in Game 4 Sunday of the teams\u2019 Western Conference semifinals series.<\/p>\n Wembanyama had calmed down by the time the verdict was announced. Veteran forward Harrison Barnes on the visitors\u2019 bench appeared to clue him in, that his night was over, and Wembanyama dapped up most of his teammates before exiting to the locker room.<\/p>\n The scene beyond Target Center felt different. You could almost hear the TVs around the planet clicking off with San Antonio\u2019s 7-foot-4 MVP done and gone. Given how desperate the Wolves were to avoid a 3-1 hole in the series<\/a>, and how the Spurs already had achieved their primary goal of winning one of the two games played in the Twin Cities, what was left of the game figured to heavily tilt Minnesota\u2019s way.<\/p>\n Except it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n The Spurs responded like wounded animals, snarling and clawing to an eight-point lead in the final quarter. The Wolves gathered themselves and growled back, rode star Anthony Edwards in a 12-3 run, then made most of the pivotal plays near the end to guarantee at least two more clashes before this is settled, beginning with Game 5 back in San Antonio Tuesday (8 ET, NBC\/Peacock<\/a>).<\/p>\n Here are four takeaways from Minnesota\u2019s 114-109 victory<\/a>:<\/p>\n 1. Losing Wembanyama<\/p>\n The Spurs center\u2019s pointy elbow into Reid\u2019s mush crossed the NBA line on flagrancy. No doubt about it. At the same time, his reaction was completely understandable, based on how physical these games have been and what the Wolves (and the Trail Blazers in the first round) have done to pound Wembanyama out of his comfort zone.<\/p>\n With just 235 pounds stretched the length of his 88-inch frame, the lean and lanky Frenchman still needs to get stronger, three years into his NBA career. Until then, opponents will try to push, bang, and foul him as much as possible, inflicting pain, sure, but also to get into Wembanyama\u2019s head.<\/p>\n Those tactics are nothing to be proud of, but the playoffs are the whatever-it-takes time of the year. In the instant before Wembanyama swung that elbow at Reid crowding behind him, he had been bopped in the face by the Wolves\u2019 Jaden McDaniel and had McDaniels hanging with both hands on his left arm.<\/p>\n \u201cThe amount of physicality that people play with him, at some level you have to protect yourself,\u201d San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said. \u201cEvery single play on every single part of the floor, people are trying to impose their physicality on him. We get it \u2013 that\u2019s part of the game. But he\u2019s gotten chucked, he\u2019s gotten pushed down in transition running freely, all the stuff. He doesn\u2019t complain one time. We don\u2019t complain. We\u2019re just going to play. \u2026 but at some stage he should be protected and if not, he\u2019s going to protect himself.\u201d<\/p>\n This particular double-team looked more like a pro wrestling tag team run amok. Two assailants + zero whistle = one nasty elbow.<\/p>\n Spurs guard Dylan Harper said: \u201cYou could see the frustration, and I can see where he was coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. So much Edwards<\/p>\n Johnson felt the remaining Spurs were \u201cphenomenal\u201d in how they responded to Wembanyama\u2019s absence. In the third quarter, they limited the Wolves to 20 points, scored 28, got nine points off turnovers and even had more points in the paint, 20-9, despite losing their Plastic-Man zone down near the rim.<\/p>\n Luke Kornet gave them some Wemby Lite work at both ends to soothe the bigger fellow\u2019s absence. It was 94-86 with 8:49 left in the fourth when Minnesota called timeout, then called on Edwards.<\/p>\n The Wolves shooting guard scored 10 points in that 12-3 run and 16 in the quarter overall. Coach Chris Finch had others bring up the ball to fend off the double teams being thrown at Edwards, and never mind his barking knees, he logged 40 minutes for the second consecutive game. Save for a little explosiveness that turned sure dunks into layup, he appears to be good for what\u2019s left of the series.<\/p>\n 3. Not all Edwards, though<\/p>\n Had the PA announcer bellowed \u2013 after Harper\u2019s layup put the Spurs in front 101-100 with 3:22 left \u2013 that Edwards would score just two more points, the Target Center crowd would have stirred uneasily.<\/p>\n But his teammates were properly re-engaged by that point, and it was the supporting cast that took it home.<\/p>\n Reid, back on the floor after suffering a nasty ankle turn and fall minutes earlier, found Rudy Gobert with a bullet pass inside for a three-point play. Edwards chipped in a romp to the rim. Then it was Gobert with another dunk, pouncing when Kornet left him to help on Julius Randle.<\/p>\n Ayo Dosunmu attacked the Wemby-less heart of San Antonio\u2019s defense after that for an and-1 that made it 110-103, and Reid put back an offensive rebound. Then Dosunmu saved a late possession by leaping for a long inbounds pass, getting his leg on it when his hands weren\u2019t enough and sealing the deal.<\/p>\n Said Finch: \u201cWe\u2019ve got to make those small plays, those dirty plays.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. The Spurs\u2019 unused challenge?<\/p>\n Johnson might have been saving his final challenge for a more egregious erroneous call in the final minutes. The Spurs assistant charged with giving the yay or nay vote on whether to use it might have viewed the play differently. Or Edwards just got to the line and got up his first free throw quicker than the green light could be summoned.<\/p>\n Still, the Spurs bench might have missed an opportunity to slow the home team\u2019s comeback. With 5:51 to go and San Antonio hanging on 97-93, Edwards attacked and got disrupted by defender Julian Champagnie.<\/p>\n The NBC replay seemed to show that Champagnie met the Wolves guard in the air and made contact with the ball and Edwards\u2019 hand.<\/p>\n Ref Brent Barnaky noticed the latter but appeared not to see the former when he whistled the foul on Champagnie. Edwards hit both foul shots to keep the pressure on the Spurs. * * *<\/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>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson never did use that challenge, letting it die in his pocket at the final horn.<\/p>\n