Victor Wembanyama delivered one of the most remarkable defensive performances in playoff history, but the San Antonio Spurs still fell 104-102 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night at Frost Bank Center.
Wembanyama finished with 11 points, 15 rebounds and an NBA postseason-record 12 blocks, yet he came away focused on what went wrong at the other end.
“Start by making some shots,” Wembanyama said. “Obviously used a lot of it on one side of the court, and on the other side I used too much offensively. I used too much energy in things that didn’t really help our team.”
The Spurs center admitted the game felt out of his control late, especially as Minnesota closed hard and San Antonio struggled to generate clean offense. “That’s not good,” he said. “It means I didn’t have the grasp on the game that I wish I did.”
San Antonio had a chance to steal the opener after Dylan Harper’s layup cut the deficit to two with 31 seconds left, but Julian Champagnie’s buzzer three missed as the Timberwolves held on.
Wembanyama said the Spurs were ready for the physicality Minnesota brought, but wanted to review the tape before drawing firm conclusions. “It was something we expected,” he said. “I would like to look at the game again to see what really was the main problem.”
He also pointed inward when asked about the team’s offensive leaders. “It’s a lot on me because obviously my game wasn’t good, wasn’t feeling good tonight, and that’s where the team is going to look for me,” he said.
Even with the Spurs combining for just 21 points from Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox, the star big man did not sound discouraged. “We’re very confident,” he said. “We’re still very confident and we were confident in what we were doing on the court.”
The 20-year-old also stressed that the series is far from settled. “As I said, it shows up on the stat sheet, but we need to figure out in 48 hours what we can do better,” he said. “I have no doubt that we will. I trust us.”
Wembanyama’s defensive impact was undeniable. He blocked seven shots in the first half alone and anchored a Spurs defense that kept the game tight until the final possession.
Still, he pointed to the details that matter most in playoff basketball. “It’s knowing when to pass the ball, when to score,” he said. “It makes the job tougher on the defense to have to take care of everything.”
Game 2 is Wednesday in San Antonio, where the Spurs will look for a quicker offensive rhythm behind their franchise cornerstone.
