San Antonio Spurs aim to keep rolling as NBA West semis start against banged-up Minnesota Timberwolves

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs look to parlay their power, overall depth and momentum into victory when they host the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves on May 4 (May 5, Singapore time) in Game 1 of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference semi-final series.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is on May 6 also in Alamo City, before the series moves to Minneapolis for Games 3 and 4 on May 8 and 9, respectively.

The second-seeded San Antonio earned a spot in the semis after beating the seventh-seeded Portland Trail Blazers in five games while Minnesota, the sixth seed, eliminated third-seeded Denver Nuggets in six games.

Expect defence to be at the forefront of the series, especially with French big men Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs – the reigning unanimous Defensive Player of the Year – and Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert, a four-time winner of that award (most recently in 2024), roaming the paint.

The two were teammates on France’s Olympic squad in 2024 and Gobert has been a mentor for the 22-year-old Wembanyama.

“I’ve watched him evolve. I’ve watched the way he works, the way he takes care of himself, his thirst for knowledge,” Gobert said on May 2 about Wembanyama.

“Outside of the talent, he’s someone that is a very unique soul, very unique mind.

“It’s not an accident he’s having the success he’s having. He’s preparing his mind, preparing his body like I’ve rarely seen someone do.”

Much of the discussion, at least for the early part of the series, is about how the Timberwolves can compete without star guard Anthony Edwards, who missed the final two games of the Denver series with a hyperextended left knee and bone bruise.

But Edwards was surprisingly listed as questionable rather than out on the May 3 injury report, just eight days after that mishap.

Minnesota relied on their reserve players and a career-play-off high 24 points from Terrence Shannon Jr in the clinching 110-98 win on May 1, and will lean heavily on their bench against the Spurs.

Minnesota coach Chris Finch lauded his team for coming together in the face of adversity and a slew of injuries.

That included the play of Shannon, who was all over the court in the May 1 victory.

“I thought he’d give us a boost. I didn’t realise it would be like this,” Finch said about Shannon. “Not just with his scoring, but I think he made a lot of emotional energy plays that got the crowd into it.”

If Edwards cannot go, it will be up to Gobert, forward Julius Randle (second to Edwards this season at 21.1 points per game) and the rest of the team’s role players.

“Very saddened about all of their injuries,” Wembanyama said about Minnesota’s walking wounded, “but we’re excited. We’re locked in.”

“We know it’s going to be harder than our first series. (The Timberwolves have) great individual players. Tough team,” he added.

The Spurs have had six days to rest after closing out their series against Portland with a 114-95 home win on April 28.

San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson understands that his team will be hard-pressed to beat the Timberwolves. Minnesota won two of the three games against the Spurs in the regular season, both of them on their home court.

“They guard, they’re physical, they try to impose their will and their competitiveness on you,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said on May 2 about the Timberwolves.

“And they got a lot of individuals that take pride in that. In terms of their style of play and their disposition and brand I don’t think (the injuries) changes too much.”

Meanwhile, in the final first-round NBA play-offs on May 3, Jarrett Allen scored 14 of his career play-off-high-tying 22 points in the third quarter and grabbed 19 rebounds, powering the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 114-102 win over the visiting Toronto Raptors in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference series.

Elsewhere in the East, Cade Cunningham scored 32 points and added 12 assists, and Tobias Harris contributed 30 points and nine rebounds to lead Detroit Pistons to a 116-94 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic in another Game 7. REUTERS