Bring on the champs.
The San Antonio Spurs stamped themselves ready for a showdown with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, using an early offensive explosion and a brilliant all-around effort to finish off the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals with a 139-109 victory in Game 6 on Friday in Minneapolis.
The win vaults the second-seeded Spurs into the Western finals against the top-seeded Thunder, with Oklahoma City tipping off the best-of-seven series at home on Monday.
The teams met five times in the regular season, including in the NBA Cup semifinals, with the Spurs capturing the series 4-1.
That’s ancient history, Game 6 star Stephon Castle assured in an on-court interview following a game-high 32-point performance.
“We’re not even thinking about that right now. The games ahead are a totally different game,” he said. “They’re rolling right now. They’ve won eight straight. It’s going to be tough to knock them off, but we’re pretty confident we can do it.”
With 55.7% shooting overall and 47.4% accuracy from beyond the arc, San Antonio left no doubt in its finale against the Timberwolves.
With Castle burying three 3-pointers and adding a three-point play among 14 first-quarter points, the visitors led by as many as 11 before blowing the game wide open by scoring the first 20 points of the second period.
Victor Wembanyama had seven of his 19 points in the run that created a 56-27 lead in the fifth minute of the second period.
“Our energy and attention to detail was probably the best it’s been all series,” Castle said. “When we’re playing like that on defense, it makes offense for us real easy.”
Minnesota, a Western Conference finalist each of the past two seasons, fought an uphill battle the rest of the way and did manage to get within 74-61 by halftime. However, the Timberwolves were outgunned from beyond the arc and posed no serious threat over the final 24 minutes.
Afterward, having been harassed into 9-for-26 shooting en route to a team-high 24 points, Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards admitted the obvious.
“Tip my hat to them,” he told the media at the interview podium. “They’re just a better team.”
With Castle going 5-for-7 and De’Aaron Fox 3-for-3, the Spurs outscored the hosts 54-36 from deep, making 18 of 38 (47.4%) while the Timberwolves struggled to 12 of 34 (35.3%).
Castle wound up one point shy of the 33 he had in Game 3 at Portland in the first round. He added a game-high 11 rebounds as the Spurs dominated the Timberwolves on the boards 60-29.
Fox finished with 21 points and a game-high-tying nine assists, while Wembanyama had six rebounds and three blocks to go with his 19 points.
Julian Champagnie chipped in with 18 points, Dylan Harper 15 and Devin Vassell 11 for the Spurs, who have reached the conference finals while appearing in the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
“The words conference finals are unreal,” Wembanyama told the Prime Video audience after the win. “It’s something I’ve heard my whole life and now we’re in it and it’s kinda unreal. But it’s just basketball and we know what we have to do.”
Terrence Shannon Jr. had 21 points, Naz Reid 18, Jaden McDaniels 13 and Ayo Dosunmu 10 to complement nine assists for the sixth-seeded Timberwolves, who upset third-seeded Denver in the first round.
Minnesota’s Julius Randle shot just 1-for-8 and totaled three points, while Rudy Gobert went scoreless with just three rebounds in 22 minutes.
–Field Level Media
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