SAN ANTONIO — Déjà vu crept in, but Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs had other plans Saturday, overcoming a career-high 55-point performance from Anthony Edwards to hold on for a 126-123 win over Minnesota.
Wembanyama scored a team-high 39 points for the Spurs in a contest that featured the stars combining for 94 points, the most by opposing former No. 1 picks in the modern draft era (1966), according to ESPN Research.
“It was fun,” Wembanyama said. “Not the most fun, but it was a fun game for sure. And this one is worth a lot because of the way the West looks right now.”
Six days ago at the Target Center in Minneapolis, the Spurs took a 16-0 lead and led by as many as 19 points before losing on a go-ahead runner off the glass by Edwards with 16.8 seconds remaining. Edwards almost played the spoiler role again at Frost Bank Center.
The 24-year-old scored 26 points in the fourth quarter, the second-highest scoring output in any quarter by a Timberwolves player in the play-by-play era (1997-98), according to ESPN Research.
Edwards’ 55-point night ranks as the most points this season by a player in a loss.
“They’ve got Wemby,” Edwards said. “He’s supposed to be the face of the league. So, I’ve always got to get up for that one. I loved it. I wish we could have just moved everybody out the way and just checked up — me versus him.”
The third matchup between the teams sort of played out that way down the stretch. Wembanyama and Edwards traded baskets twice in the last three minutes, after the Minnesota guard rallied his team from a 25-point deficit.
“This team has done this to [us] enough times that everyone remembers and can expect the adjustment or the uptick in what we are about to see, and that’s what happened,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “We let them back into the game, and they are a tough group, especially when you let them get going like that.”
The Timberwolves took their first lead of the second half with 3:28 remaining on an 11-foot fadeaway from Edwards. Wembanyama responded on San Antonio’s next possession with an 18-footer to tie the score at 110.
“Vic hit some big-time shots, and that’s what it comes down to,” said Spurs forward Keldon Johnson, who contributed 20 points, including a 3-pointer with 17.3 seconds left. “They made it a dogfight, and we made some big plays down the stretch.”
Wembanyama sparked his squad’s most prolific quarter in nearly 40 years as San Antonio built its 25-point halftime lead. He scored 20 points in the second quarter — including 11 straight in 2:06 — as the Spurs outscored Minnesota 48-22 in the frame.
The outburst marked the most points San Antonio had scored in a quarter since Nov. 20, 1987, when the Spurs dropped 48 points in the final frame of a loss to Denver. The 48-point quarter against the Timberwolves also tied for the fourth-most points scored in any quarter since the franchise joined the NBA (1976-77), according to ESPN Research.
Wembanyama fell one point shy of matching his season high of 40 points, which he scored in the season opener against Dallas.
Minnesota, meanwhile, played without starting center Rudy Gobert (left hip contusion). Forward Naz Reid left Saturday’s contest in the first half because of soreness in his left shoulder, the team announced.
“The whole story of the game is we let the lead get away,” Wembanyama said. “What’s important is to figure out what we want to get to in those moments because we talk about it a lot. We know it’s a problem, and I know our mind is in the right place.
“But we’ve got to know where to get to. We’re not fully satisfied. It’s a nuanced win because they [played a] back-to-back. They had some stars sitting out. There’s a lot we have to correct, but it’s still a win, and that’s the main thing to focus on.”
