Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs ripped past the Timberwolves 126-97 in Game 5, taking a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series and moving one win from the West finals. Game 6 is set for Friday at 9:30 ET on Prime Video.
That leaves Minnesota needing a response after another slow opening turned into another steep climb. The Wolves have trailed by seven, seven, 15, six and 15 points in the first quarters of the first five games, a pattern that has put pressure on Anthony Edwards to do too much and left San Antonio in control of the tempo.
Edwards is averaging 21.3 points and 2.8 assists on 44.2% field-goal shooting in the series, numbers that reflect both his load and the Spurs’ ability to make every possession feel crowded. Wembanyama, who is 22 years and 128 days old, has been the kind of problem that breaks game plans, and a league preview noted that very few teams are built to handle the French center’s 7-foot-4 frame when he is dictating the floor.
There is recent history that Minnesota can lean on, even if the setting is different. Two years ago, the Wolves were down 3-2 against Denver, then won Game 6 at Target Center 115-70 before mounting a furious second-half comeback in Game 7 to reach the West finals for the first time in 20 years. Friday offers the same basic chance: survive and force a winner-take-all game, or let the series end before that door opens.
San Antonio knows what comes next if Minnesota extends the matchup. A Game 7 would send the winner to face Oklahoma City, which swept the Lakers. But the Spurs can erase all of that by closing it out on Friday, and Minnesota has already acknowledged at times that it has strayed from its own game plan against this opponent. That is the tightest line in this series now: one team is playing with the cushion of a lead, and the other is running out of time to find the start it has missed all week.
