Victor Wembanyama delivered the most complete performance of his first NBA postseason Friday night, finishing with 39 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks to lift the San Antonio Spurs past the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-108 and take a 2-1 lead in their second-round series.
The 7-foot-4 French rookie was at his best when the game was at its tightest. Trailing or tied through much of the night in Minneapolis, Wembanyama took over in the fourth quarter with 16 points, including two long-range three-pointers that put the game away. He held his composure even as the contest turned physical, with a mid-game fracas drawing players from both benches after Jaden McDaniels and Stephon Castle shoved each other following an earlier collision.
"I'm built for this. I love this more than anything else," Wembanyama said after the game. He added: "We got the talent. We got the depth. We don't got the experience, but we don't care … We can go to the very top if we play like tonight consistently."
Teammate De'Aaron Fox summed up the night in one word. "Greatness," Fox said of Wembanyama's performance. "Teams are going to come out here and try to be physical with him. He fights through that, he doesn't complain, he knows what he's going to endure. He comes out here and he produces."
Minnesota had Anthony Edwards back in the starting lineup after he was limited to 12 bench points in Game 2 while recovering from a knee injury. Edwards was sharp, finishing with 32 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists. But the Timberwolves started dismally, missing their first 12 field goal attempts, and could never fully escape the hole that created. The game was tied 51-51 at halftime, with Edwards and Wembanyama combining for nearly all of the scoring on both sides.
In Philadelphia, Jalen Brunson scored 33 points to lead the New York Knicks past the 76ers 108-94, pushing New York to a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia. Brunson shook off a slow start, going 2 of 8 from the floor early before finishing 11 of 22 in 38 minutes. Mikal Bridges added 23 points and Josh Hart had 12 points with 11 rebounds as the Knicks turned a four-point fourth-quarter advantage into a comfortable double-digit win, their sixth consecutive postseason victory.
First-year Knicks coach Mike Brown offered a frank summary of his reliance on his star guard. "I'm Linus. Jalen's my blanket," Brown said. "He helps me relax at a lot of different times during the course of the game." Brown, who took the job after Tom Thibodeau was fired, has grown increasingly confident in what his team can do. "Yeah, OK, we might have a chance at this," he said.
Joel Embiid returned for Philadelphia after missing Game 2 with a sprained right ankle and sore hip, scoring 18 points. Paul George exploded for 15 in the first quarter then went scoreless the rest of the game, missing all nine shots he attempted after the opening period. The 76ers, who rallied from a 3-1 deficit to eliminate the Celtics in the first round, now face long odds. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit.
