Victor Wembanyama poured in 39 points and the San Antonio Spurs survived a career-best 55-point outburst by Anthony Edwards to claim a 126-123 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night at Frost Bank Center.
The duel between the former No. 1 overall picks produced 94 combined points, the highest total for opposing top selections in the common draft era (since 1966), according to ESPN Research. San Antonio (record not provided) halted Minnesota’s comeback after seeing a 25-point lead trimmed to one possession in the closing seconds.
Fourth-quarter fireworks
Edwards, 24, erupted for 26 points in the final period—the second-largest single-quarter total by any Timberwolves player since play-by-play tracking began in 1997-98—and gave Minnesota its first lead of the half with 3:28 remaining on an 11-foot fadeaway. Wembanyama answered immediately with an 18-footer to knot the game at 110.
Forward Keldon Johnson, who finished with 20 points, knocked down a corner three with 17.3 seconds left to give the Spurs a 126-123 cushion. Minnesota’s last chance fell short when Edwards missed a contested three-pointer just before the horn.
Second-quarter surge
San Antonio built its massive advantage with a 48-22 second quarter, the franchise’s highest-scoring period since Nov. 20, 1987, and tied for the fourth most in any quarter since the club joined the NBA in 1976-77. Wembanyama produced 20 points in the frame, including an 11-point burst in 2:06.
Missing pieces and recent history
The Timberwolves played without starting center Rudy Gobert (left hip contusion), and forward Naz Reid exited in the first half because of left shoulder soreness. The matchup came six days after Minnesota erased a 19-point deficit at home and beat San Antonio on Edwards’ late runner.
They said it
“The whole story is we let the lead slip,” Wembanyama said. “There’s a lot we still have to fix, but a win is a win.”
Edwards added, “They’ve got Wemby—he’s supposed to be the face of the league. I love going up against him.”
Interim head coach Mitch Johnson acknowledged San Antonio’s habit of surrendering big leads: “We’ve seen this team do it to us before. We let them get going, and they made it tough.”
Source: ESPN
