The biggest story coming into the Minnesota-San Antonio Western Conference semifinal was the availability of Wolves star Anthony Edwards. The sixth-year pro hyperextended his knee and suffered a bone bruise on April 25th in the Wolves 112-96 Game 4 win over the Denver Nuggets. After the game it was reported he would miss the rest of the first round and a portion of the second round – if Minnesota advanced. The injury looked severe enough that any Antman return seemed unlikely until Game 3 when Minnesota returned home. Instead, on Sunday the day before Game 1, the T-Wolves made a surprising injury update – Ant was now questionable to play. He still had to complete an on-court evaluation prior to Game 1, but he passed, suited up and was available to come off the bench and play 20-30 minutes.

A back-and-forth affair saw Minnesota survive an open Julian Champagnie game-winning three attempt at the buzzer to steal Game 1, 104-102. The shot was in rhythm for the 4th-year forward, he simply missed. Anthony Edwards ended up playing 25 minutes, scoring 18-points on 8-13 FG, 2-3 3-pt. He wasn’t his usual attacking self, possibly attributed to his lingering injury or due to the fact Victor Wembanyama was swatting any and all shots around the rim.

Let’s talk about Vic. His length was terrorizing the Wolves anytime they drove into the paint or tried to post up. Terrance Shannon Jr. had a handful of drives that ended in disaster, same with Julius Randle. He tried to bully Wemby in the post using his strength advantage, which worked until he tried to shoot. The Frenchman used his tremendously long arms to make up for the body contact and sent a couple of shots flying into the front row. Victor played 40 minutes, scoring 11-pts on 5-17 FG, 0-8 3-pt, 1-2 FT, while grabbing 15 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists and blocking 12 shots. It was the stuffed stat sheet that he’s known for, just a bit underwhelming in the scoring department for someone who averaged 25 PPG this season. Kudos to Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and Naz Reid for making it uncomfortable for Vic in and around the paint with their physicality. This forced him to retreat from the paint and settle for jumpers and 3’s, which he couldn’t find his rhythm. Late in the game he started attacking from the perimeter off the dribble and getting by his defender. That’s something Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson will need to remind his young superstar. No need to worry about Wemby, he’ll make the necessary adjustments, it’s the rest of the Spurs who need to step it up.

De’Aaron Fox was brought in to take some of the scoring load off Victor Wembanyama, soak up some of the primary ball-handling duties from Stephon Castle and provide veteran leadership to a young group of players. He achieved all three in the first round against Portland. He was poor in Game 1 against the Wolves, scoring 10-points on 5-14 FG, 0-4 3-pt, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 turnovers and 1 steal. Just an abysmal showing from your highest paid player. He will need to refocus and rethink how he wants to attack and generate better looks from the field. San Antonio’s other young star Stephon Castle didn’t play poorly, putting up 17-points on 4-8 FG, 3-5 3-pt, 6-8 FT, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. The only problem being he fouled out of the game with 3 minutes left. Playing tough, physical defense is a staple of his, but if it costs him game time due to foul trouble then he may need to scale back the aggressiveness. He’s simply too important on offense to not be on the floor late in the game. A special shoutout to Dylan Harper, the number 2 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He was awesome leading the team with 18-point off the bench. Keep an eye on his performances as this series progresses.

Minnesota did exactly what they set out to do, they won a game on the road and now hold home court advantage. A Game 2 victory would really plant them in the drivers seat, which makes it a must-win for San Antonio. Teams who go down 0-2 in the conference semifinals and came back to win the series are 8-111. While not impossible, highly improbable. Game 2 is on Wednesday, May 6th at 6:30PM on ESPN.