The Spurs were able to hold Minnesota to their lowest-scoring half in any playoff or regular season game this year. | Find live updates from Game 2 below
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs are back on their home floor Friday night with a chance to reset their second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and if Game 1 was any indication, this matchup is going to be defined by razor-thin margins.
San Antonio came within a single shot of stealing the opener despite an off night from its top scorers, falling 104-102 after a missed buzzer-beater. Now, facing an early 0-1 deficit, the Spurs will look to respond and even the series before it shifts north.
All eyes remain on Victor Wembanyama, who delivered a historic defensive performance in Game 1 with a playoff-record 12 blocks. It was a dominant showing on one end, paired with 15 rebounds to secure a triple-double, but also an uncharacteristically inefficient night offensively. If the Spurs are going to bounce back, they’ll likely need a more balanced version of their young star, along with improved outings from key contributors like De’Aaron Fox.
Meanwhile, Minnesota showed exactly why its recent playoff experience matters. Behind a steady performance from Julius Randle and a strong showing off the bench from Anthony Edwards, the Timberwolves executed down the stretch and capitalized on San Antonio’s struggles. Contributions across the roster helped them overcome injuries and silence a 62-win Spurs team on the road, a formula they’ll try to replicate in Game 2.
Stick with us throughout the night for live updates, highlights and analysis as the Spurs look to knot things up at 1-1 before the series heads to Minnesota:
4Q, 10:31 remaining: Spurs 102, Timberwolves 65
The Timberwolves waved the white flag on Game 2 as a majority of the starters from both teams headed for the bench after an early timeout in the fourth quarter.
End of 3Q: Spurs 98, Timberwolves 63
San Antonio began to sparkle from three-point land, helping them add to their 35-point lead heading into the final frame.
3Q, 4:14 remaining: Spurs 85, Timberwolves 55
Julian Champagnie came decided to join the party with back-to-back threes, extending the Spurs’ lead to 30 points before the end of the third.
3Q, 5:42 remaining: Spurs 75, Timberwolves 51
Midway through the third quarter, the Spurs began to put the Timberwolves hopes of winning Game 2 away early. The game started getting a little chippy as both teams got into a pushing match after a hard foul on a tip ball.
3Q, 9:48 remaining: Spurs 64, Timberwolves 35
The Spurs started the second half exactly where they left off the first, hot from three as Vassell nailed his first of the game.
HALFTIME: Spurs 59, Timberwolves 35
Wembanyama shined in the first half, scoring more points than he did in all of Game 1 and being just one rebound shy of a double-double.
The young guns, Dylan Harper, Carter Bryant and Castle, all capitalized on fastbreak opportunities with dunks and threes from behind the arc.
The Spurs were able to hold Minnesota to their lowest-scoring half in any playoff or regular season game this year.
2Q, 3:02 remaining: Spurs 48, Timberwolves 32
With three minutes left in the half, the Spurs had already doubled their points from the first quarter.
2Q, 5:18 remaining: Spurs 43, Timberwolves 26
Wembanyama extended San Antonio’s lead to 17 after hitting his first three-pointer of the series.
2Q, 6:55 remaining: Spurs 38, Timberwolves 24
Fox began to catch fire with his second three from behind the arch and then getting fouled on his third before the Wolves called a timeout to reassess.
2Q, 8:09 remaining: Spurs 33, Timberwolves 24
Stephon Castle started putting the pressure on Minnesota in the paint, forcing them to sit a few starters due to being in foul trouble. But Mitch Johnson made sure to get Castle some rest before he got into any foul trouble himself, already with two in the first half.
End of 1Q: Spurs 24, Timberwolves 17
Luke Kornet put a capped on a low-scoring first quarter putting Rudy Gobert on a poster and then notched an impressive block on the other end of the floor.
Both teams hit their first threes of the game in the final 60 seconds of the first quarter.
1Q, 2:53 remaining: Spurs 17, Timberwolves 14
The scoring simmered as both teams started the game a combined 0-12 from three-point land, but San Antonio managed to keep the lead even after going almost 4 minutes without a field goal.
1Q, 7:00 remaining: Spurs 13, Timberwolves 11
An alley oop from Vassell to Wembanyama and a wide open dunk from Castle continued San Antonio’s early offensive success, while the Wolves stayed on their heals on the other side of the floor.
1Q, 8:20 remaining: Spurs 8, Timberwolves 7
Wemby’s pregame ritual proved to work as he slammed down an emphatic putback dunk for the first points of Game 2!
Pregame
Wembanyama took some casual windmill-180 dunks off the backboard in his pregame warmups.
We caught a glimpse of Julian Champagnie getting shots in ahead of the Spurs’ Game 2 matchup against Minnesota. Champagnie missed the potential game-winning shot at the buzzer in Game 1, but looks ready to take that chip on his shoulder into Wednesday night’s game.
San Antonio is back in black as Go Spurs Go shirts are in place for Game 2, kicking off Wednesday, May 6 at 8:30 p.m.