Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs at Minnesota Timberwolves
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The Spurs finish up their road trip with a matchup with the tough T-Wolves
On Friday, the San Antonio Spurs suffered a tough loss against a motivated Sacramento Kings squad. Now, after traveling across time zones they’ll match up with one of the best defenses in the league, and a team that will specifically be a tough match-up for them: the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Wolves are 6th in the NBA in defensive rating and have the size to punish the Spurs. With Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and Naz Reid, Minnesota will be a lot to handle for San Antonio with Charles Bassey missing another game, and Victor Wembanyama missing the rest of the season. That’s not even accounting for Anthony Edwards, who is having a great season, averaging 27.2 points, 6 rebounds, and 4.6 assists while knocking down 40.6% of his threes.
Minnesota has a 2-1 season series lead over the Spurs and has won the last two games against San Antonio. The Spurs will lean on the success of their rookie guard, Stephon Castle, who has firmly established a lead for Rookie of the Year with his recent play.
Want the full thing? Check out https://www.patreon.com/secretbase When we watch sports, whether in person or at home, we have luxuries not afforded to the athletes playing. Sometimes it’s comfort, sometimes it’s food available, but always it’s the ability to pee the moment we need to. This raises the question: what happens when an athlete really has to go? Well, we’re here to discuss.
Spurs Injuries: Charles Bassey – Out (knee), David Duke Jr. – Out (G League), Harrison Ingram – Out (G League), Riley Minix – Out (G League), Victor Wembanyama – Out (shoulder)
Timberwolves Injuries: Luka Garza – Questionable (ankle), Rudy Gobert – Questionable (back)
The Spurs have struggled to win the rebounding battle since Wembanyama and Bassey went down. Minnesota represents challenges inside with its size. Despite that clear advantage, the Wolves aren’t an excellent rebounding team. They are 18th in the NBA in rebounding and allow their opponents to grab the 13th most rebounds in the NBA. Even with a clear size disadvantage, the Spurs can still compete on the glass and stay in this game.
The Spurs starting backcourt of De’Aaron Fox and Chris Paul struggled against the Kings. Their saving grace was Castle’s 25 points off the bench. They’ll need more from their guards against a tough Minnesota defense. Castle has scored just 5 points against the Wolves in three games this season. His improved play could give them a chance on Sunday.
Castle has been the highlight of the Spurs bench production lately, but the play of Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sochan shouldn’t go unnoticed. Those two will be key against the Wolves on Sunday. Sochan’s effort on the interior will be crucial against the big and tough T-Wolves. An extra scoring punch from Johnson off the bench would help a Spurs team struggling to find consistent offense right now.
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The time a basketball player peed during a game | The Annex podcast segment
San Antonio Spurs (26-35) at Minnesota Timberwolves (36-29)
March 9th, 2025 | 7 PM CT
Watch: FanDuel Southwest | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
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Rudy Gobert returns from injury to help Timberwolves win fifth in a row, routing Spurs
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The Wolves got their center back after a 10-game absence and continued their winning streak.
By Kent Youngblood
Rudy returned.
It became official less than an hour before the Timberwolves’ game against San Antonio on Sunday night at Target Center.
After missing 10 games because of a lower-back issue, big Wolves center Rudy Gobert returned to action, returned to the starting lineup and returned to a team that found an offensive rhythm in his absence.
So what did that mean?
The Wolves won their fifth consecutive game, 141-124 over a Spurs team playing without Victor Wembanyama, moving into a tie with Golden State for sixth in the NBA’s Western Conference.
Before the game Wolves coach Chris Finch said Gobert’s return would mean a readjustment would be needed. Not Sunday. Despite early foul trouble, Gobert scored 16 points with eight rebounds in 20 minutes.
And the Wolves offense hummed from start to finish in this game. Minnesota shot 55.8% overall and made 21 of 42 three-pointers while scoring a season high in points. The Wolves (37-29) got double-figure scoring from Gobert, Anthony Edwards (25), Jaden McDaniels (16), Julius Randle (14), Naz Reid (20), Mike Conley (13), Donte DiVincenzo (17) and Nickeil Alexander-Walker (10).
And they needed it, because the Wolves struggled to guard the undermanned Spurs. San Antonio shot 55.3% themselves and got to the free-throw line 24 times. But a 15-6 run to end the third quarter turned a game that was a little close for comfort into an easy win.
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De’Aaron Fox — who entered the game averaging 33.7 points in three prior games against the Wolves — scored 22 points, one of five Spurs players in double figures.
Minnesota scored 30 second-chance points, got 57 points off the bench and scored 62 points in the paint.
Gobert hit both of his shots, had three rebounds and six points in the first quarter, which ended with the Wolves up 37-29. But Gobert also drew his third foul before the end of the quarter, sending him to the bench.
But the Wolves led by as much as 11 and got 11 points from Edwards and eight from McDaniels while shooting 57.7%.
That lead grew to 14 in the second quarter, but the Wolves let the Spurs hang in the game by sending them to the line and struggling on defense. The result was the lead was the same at the half (eight) as it was after quarter. The Wolves were shooting better than 57% and had a 15-4 edge on second-chance points, the Spurs had an 11-3 edge from the line and was shooting better than 53%.
The Spurs got within five early in the third quarter and were within six with 3:24 left in the quarter. But then the Wolves got three-pointers from three players in a 15-5 run to end the quarter, with Alexander-Walker hitting the final three of the series, putting Minnesota up 109-94 entering the fourth quarter.
That was the beginning of the end of San Antonio’s chances. The Wolves outscored the Spurs 20-11 to start the fourth quarter.
Kent Youngblood has covered sports for the Minnesota Star Tribune for more than 20 years.
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The Wolves got their center back after a 10-game absence and continued their winning streak.
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Full-strength Wolves post wire-to-wire victory over Spurs, winning fifth straight
The Minnesota Timberwolves welcomed Rudy Gobert back into the lineup Sunday night, marking the first time the team has been at full strength in nearly two months, and the early returns on the fully healthy Wolves were quite encouraging.
The Wolves led from start to finish in a 141-124 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Target Center in Minneapolis. The win is their fifth straight and was yet another example of how these healthier Wolves are using balance to their advantage.
Eight Wolves players scored in double figures Sunday night, led by Anthony Edwards’ game-high 25 points — Edwards didn’t even play in the fourth quarter as Minnesota had the game well in hand by the time he’d typically sub back in.
The Wolves emptied their bench entirely with 2 minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the game.
The Wolves (37-29) exploded for 37 points in the first quarter to build an eight-point lead they’d carry into the half. They stretched it to 15 points by the end of the third quarter and as many as 24 during the fourth quarter. The ball movement was excellent as the Wolves assisted on 38 of their 53 made shots and shot 56% from the field. That was a result of everyone getting involved. Naz Reid returned to his bench role with Gobert back and had 20 points and seven rebounds.
Julius Randle flirted with a triple-double for the third straight game and created one good look after another by attacking the paint. Randle finished with 14 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Jaden McDaniels demonstrated his abilities as a playmaker, too, recording seven assists to go along with his 16 points and four rebounds. Mike Conley knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. Donte DiVincenzo scored 17 off the bench.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker added another 10 points off the bench.
Gobert, who had been dealing with back spasms, played for the first time since Feb. 12 and fit pretty seamlessly back into the lineup. Seemingly the only thing limiting Gobert Sunday night was foul trouble as he picked up his third near the end of the first quarter. That kept Gobert on the bench for the entirety of the second quarter and limited him to 20 minutes for the game, though he still finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and two assists. His impact on both ends was evident.
The Wolves are finally back to full strength and in the midst of a five-game win streak. Everything seems to be clicking at the right time and the balance is certainly there as they prepare to make a stretch run at the tail end of the regular season.
Nolan O’Hara covers all things Minnesota sports, primarily the Timberwolves, for Bring Me The News and Sports Illustrated’s On SI network. He previously worked as a copy editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism. His work has appeared in the Pioneer Press, Ratchet & Wrench magazine, the Minnesota Daily and a number of local newspapers in Minnesota, among other publications.
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