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Victor Wembanyama asserted himself in his Game 5 return vs. Minnesota, finishing with 27 points and 17 rebounds.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a><\/p>\n By the time the Timberwolves boarded their charter jet late Tuesday for the flight home to the Twin Cities, they probably would have preferred a case of \u201cMontezuma\u2019s revenge\u201d to the Victor Wembanyama payback they suffered in the 126-97 loss in Game 5<\/a> to San Antonio\u2019s Spurs.<\/p>\n Wembanyama, the Spurs center whose nasty elbow and subsequent ejection Sunday defined Game 4, returned to the series like a force of nature.<\/p>\n He had game highs in points (27), rebounds (17), free throws (7-for-9) and blocked shots (3) to bounce back at Frost Bank Center and stake the Spurs to a 3-2 series lead.<\/p>\n Game 6 (9:30 ET, Prime Video<\/a>) is Friday at Target Center.<\/p>\n Here are four takeaways from San Antonio\u2019s resounding performance at home:<\/p>\n 1. Wembanyama\u2019s pitch-perfect response<\/p>\n That Wembanyama simultaneously put behind him his angry outburst in Game 4 and fired back from it in the most profound way was impressive for a 22-year-old.<\/p>\n He had the basketball world\u2019s eyes upon him and dialed up his game across the board \u2013 offense, defense, guile, intensity \u2013 to 11.<\/p>\n Wembanyama hadn\u2019t spoken publicly since his banishment from the Target Center bowl for slamming his right elbow into Wolves forward Naz Reid\u2019s neck in the second quarter that night. He answered primarily with his play, sparking the Spurs with 18 points in the first 12 minutes Tuesday.<\/p>\n But when he did talk afterward, it was clear he burned to set things right.<\/p>\n After hemming and hawing initially at the podium, Wembanyama\u2019s voice stiffened.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like the rage-baiting would have been one of the strategies,\u201d he said, \u201cso I feel like I had to stay composed.\u201d<\/p>\n The 7-foot-4 funhouse masterpiece handled the expected banging and jostling of the 2026 playoffs, avoided any particular confrontation and went about paying back Minnesota in the manner that hurt most.<\/p>\n He and his Spurs teammates had each other\u2019s back and it showed, in the focus that had them hitting 53% of their shots, in the greed of grabbing 68 of their points in the paint, and in the defensive cohesiveness that limited the Wolves to 32 fewer field goals.<\/p>\n \u201cThe one word I like to use is just \u2018mature,\u2019\u201d Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. There\u2019s a lot that\u2019s happened in the last 48 hours since that last game, and how that young man came out and played in a variety of situations, not just his production, was very mature.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Third quarter told the tale<\/p>\n The best thing Minnesota managed all night was its response after halftime, the effectiveness it showed in erasing San Antonio\u2019s 59-47 lead in almost no time.<\/p>\n Barely four minutes passed before the Wolves, following Anthony Edwards\u2019 and Ayo Dosunmo\u2019s leads, pulled even at 61-61. The worst thing Minnesota did all night, alas, was letting go of the game\u2019s rope from there. The Spurs outscored them 30-12 the rest of that quarter and 65-36 from the tie to the final horn.<\/p>\n The Wolves\u2019 concentration and discipline waned, and maybe some of their stamina too.<\/p>\n They trailed by as much as 30 points in the fourth.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went away from what was working,\u201d Minnesota coach Chris Finch said, \u201cand then our defense was crazy \u2013 30 points in I think the last [seven] minutes of the third quarter. A lot of it was just ball contain.<\/p>\n \u201cOffensively we found something that was working, and then we started breaking off plays. That\u2019s my job I\u2019ve got to get us back on track, that\u2019s on me.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Keldon Johnson brings the Sixth Man energy<\/p>\n The ingredients that went into Johnson\u2019s Sixth Man Award-winning regular season \u2013 aggressiveness, energy, scoring skills bravado and a tiny conscience on the court \u2013 had been in short supply in the playoffs. He had averaged just 7.3 points on 38% shooting, contributing only single digits in points in seven of the Spurs\u2019 nine games.<\/p>\n That changed Tuesday. Johnson scored 21 points in 22 minutes on 8-for-11 shooting. He matched by himself Minnesota\u2019s three best bench scorers, kept possessions alive, drew fouls to take air out of the Wolves\u2019 defense and made a nuisance of himself as long as he was in the game. The sturdy native of Chesterfield, Va., by way of a single season at Kentucky was one of those Manu Ginobili-Tony Parker draft picks by San Antonio \u2013 No. 29 in 2019 \u2013 and he played like that.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was just being himself,\u201d Mitch Johnson said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t trying to do something or be anything. As he\u2019s shown in his career, when he plays with that energy, the basketball finds him. He\u2019s in the middle of plays, he\u2019s in gang-rebound situations. He\u2019s a catalyst for that energy and that physicality and that dynamic of our team, and we need it.\u201d<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t alone. Rookie Dylan Harper is such an essential member of San Antonio\u2019s three-headed backcourt with De\u2019Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle that Harper seems like a sixth starter. He made several highlight plays in the open court, chipping in 12 points and 10 rebounds, five offensively.<\/p>\n Both Fox and Harper had begun the day as \u201cquestionable\u201d on the injury report, but they were cleared and determined to play well before tipoff.<\/p>\n \u201cThose guys to have performances like that, was as strong a statement in that locker room for us as Victor\u2019s,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n 4. Two days to set up Game 6<\/p>\n Compared to the first round that moved in fits and starts across the late April and early May calendar, this series has unspooled rapidly with a game every other night. From Texas to the Twin Cities and back, the pace and the miles starting to show and be felt.<\/p>\n Now, finally, there\u2019s a relative pause, with two open days before Friday\u2019s Game 6.<\/p>\n A few players specifically seem ripe for a breather: Edwards\u2019 aching knees can catch an additional 24 hours of treatment, while veteran teammate Julius Randle can regroup from his raggedly play to this point.<\/p>\n Frankly there\u2019s no one on either team who is about to grumble over not rushing back out there Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m ready to get two days,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cI\u2019m excited for it.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a mental breather in play now too, a chance for one team to reset for this win-or-go-home situation, the other to grasp the opportunity\/urgency of a free shot to avoid Game 7.<\/p>\n Said Edwards: \u201cI don\u2019t see nobody in the locker room that\u2019s too worried.\u201d<\/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>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n