The San Antonio Spurs took a 3-2 lead against the Minnesota Timberwolves in their four-game winning streak with a convincing 126-97 home victory in Game 5 of the second round of the NBA Western Conference playoffs.
Spurs only now one success away from reaching the conference finals and showdown with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
Spurs’ biggest star, the 22-year-old French center Victor Wembanyama he redeemed himself for being suspended in the fourth game and led his team to victory with 27 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
Keldon Johnson came off the bench and scored 21, De’Aaron Fox scored 18, and Stephon Castle scored 17, while the excellent “rookie” Dylan Harper had 12 points and ten rebounds.
Anthony Edwards was the most effective with 20 goals for the Wolves, who are looking for a second consecutive berth in the Western Conference Finals, Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels added 17 each, and Ayo Dosunmu added 16.
Wembanyama was from the very beginning determined to fix the impressionscored as many as 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in the first quarter, and the Spurs opened the match with a 24-9 lead.
The home team went into the break with a 59-47 lead, but the visitors opened the rest of the game very well and with a 14-2 run reached the level at 61-61, but that was all they could do.
This was followed by a new separation of the Spurs to a double-digit advantage, by the end of the third quarter there were already 18 differences (91-73), and in the final 12 minutes the home team only increased the advantage to a maximum of 30.
The sixth game between these rivals will be played in Minneapolis on Friday night.
(Hina | Photo: San Antonio Spurs)
