San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama scored 18 points in the first quarter of a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinals series Tuesday in San Antonio. Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA
May 13 (UPI) — Victor Wembanyama said he kept calm against “rage-baiting” from the Minnesota Timberwolves to help the San Antonio Spurs take a 3-2 series lead.
The NBA MVP finalist scored a game-high 27 points, with 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the 126-97 thrashing in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals series Tuesday in San Antonio. That action was his first since being ejected for throwing an elbow at the face of Naz Reid in the second quarter of Game 4.
“I feel like the rage-baiting would have been maybe one of their strategies,” Wembanyama told reporters, when asked about the Timberwolves.
“I feel like we need to stay composed as a team.”
Wembanyama said he was looking to play both angry and mature basketball in his return. He made 6 of 8 shots for 18 points in the first quarter of Game 5.
“I was fresh and feeling good,” Wembanyama said. “It was Game 5. Obviously I’m going to be excited. I’m going to have butterflies. Excitement is not something abnormal at this point in the playoffs.”
The Spurs outshot the Timberwolves 52.8% to 38.6%. They held advantages of 50-42 in rebounding and 25-17 in assists. They also edged their foes 68-36 in points in the paint, 44-23 in bench points, 19-15 in fast break points and led by as many as 30 points. The game featured just two lead changes, which occurred within the first two minutes of action.
Spurs forward Keldon Johnson scored 21 points off the bench. Guards De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle chipped in 18 and 17 points, respectively. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards logged 20 points in the loss.
“I thought we played with the appropriate fear, discipline, execution, physicality and poise,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And I thought we had it from an array of people.
“It was really good to see and we needed everybody.”
The Spurs (3-2) will face the Timberwolves (2-3) in Game 6 at 9:30 p.m. EDT Friday in Minneapolis. Game 7, if necessary, will be Sunday in San Antonio.