San Antonio Spurs stare down 1-0 deficit against confident Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 of NBA play-offs

SAN ANTONIO – Play-off experience is lived and learnt, a concept the San Antonio Spurs are tired of hearing about.

They are reaching for the mute button entering Game 2 of their best-of-seven National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference play-off, semi-final series on May 6 (May 7 morning, Singapore time) against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who landed the first punch to take a 1-0 lead on the Spurs’ home floor on May 4.

“It’s on me,” San Antonio’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) candidate Victor Wembanyama said after a dominant defensive performance in the 104-102 loss.

Minnesota won largely because of a lacklustre night from the hosts’ offence.

Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox, the top two scorers for the Spurs during the regular season, combined for 21 points on 10-of-31 shooting.

The pair missed all 12 of their three-point attempts, and the Frenchman was 0-for-8. He walked off the floor in disbelief as San Antonio lost at home for the second time in six games this post-season.

“I used too much energy (on defence) and things that didn’t really help our team,” he said. “So that’s on me. But first thing, I have to start making some shots.”

Essentially, Minnesota’s play-off legs held up, on the back of their 4-2 series win over the Denver Nuggets in the first round.

“We know it’s going to be a hard-fought series,” San Antonio head coach Mitch Johnson said. “That team has success in the play-offs in recent history. They just got through a hard-fought series. They obviously showed the mettle that they have. It’s going to be a fight.”

Comparatively, the Spurs are hoping to make a deep play-off run for the first time since reaching the conference finals in 2017. As the second seed in the West, they entered the series against Minnesota as prevailing favourites.

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch told his team to continue being the aggressors on the day in Game 2, as he shared the opinion that the team’s review of Game 1 told a different story about Wembanyama’s big night.

“Historic night. But when we looked at (Wembanyama’s 12 blocks), at least four of them were goal-tending,” he said. “To me, it’s a little alarming that none of them were called... That’s eight points. You know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It’s massive.”

Finch credited his guards, in particular, for getting downhill and not shying away from the towering Frenchman’s presence. That plan is unchanged ahead of Game 2 before the series moves to Minneapolis for Games 3 and 4.

Meanwhile in play-off action on May 5, the Oklahoma City Thunder overpowered LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers 108-90 to grab a 1-0 lead in their West semi-final series.

Chet Holmgren led the Thunder with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell added 18 points apiece.

In the other play-off game, Cade Cunningham scored 23 points as the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-101 in their Eastern Conference series opener. REUTERS, AFP