After a 133-95 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game Two, the San Antonio Spurs will head to Minneapolis looking to steal a game and regain home-court advantage. Much like they did in round one of the playoffs, the Spurs head into Game Three with a bit of uncertainty.
The Timberwolves are undefeated at home in the playoffs this season. Their games in Minnesota legitimately swung their first-round series with the Denver Nuggets. While the Spurs dominated Game Two, things could swing the other way on the road.
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San Antonio will come into Game Three with a fully healthy roster. The Wolves are still dealing with injuries to key players on their roster. Ayo Dosumnu is questionable, now with a heel injury rather than the calf injury that kept him out of Game One. Anthony Edwards remains questionable, despite playing in the first two games. Those injuries haven’t held the Wolves back from making this a competitive series so far.
Game Two should fill the Spurs with confidence. But as Victor Wembanyama told reporters after the game, “when you win, you’re never as good as you think you are.” They’ll have to prove that Game Two wasn’t just a flash in the pan, but a sign of a team learning how to win this series.
May 8th, 2026 | 8:30 PM CT
Watch: Amazon Prime | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs Injuries: No injuries to report.
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Timberwolves Injuries: Donte DiVincenzo – Out (achilles), Ayo Dosunmu – Questionable (heel), Anthony Edwards – Questionable (knee)
What to watch for:
Stephon Castle’s fouls
Castle had five fouls in 24 minutes on Wednesday night. He was dangerously close to fouling out for the third straight game. It makes sense why Castle is racking up the fouls. He’s consistently guarding the Wolves’ best perimeter defender or banging inside with Julius Randle. He’s being forced to fight around screens and battle with the Wolves for 50/50 balls. He’s been the driving physical force for the Spurs in this series. They need him to maintain that level of physicality while keeping the foul count low.
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Three-point shooting
Not to simplify the game, but sometimes winning does come down to making shots. The Spurs were abysmal from three in Game One’s loss, shooting 28% from deep. In Game Two’s blowout, San Antonio shot 41% from three. The contrast in the offense in those two games was stark. When the Spurs are hitting shots, it opens up lanes for their drivers to get to the basket. They got their best looks from three when they pushed the ball up the floor to get easy shots early in the shot clock. The Wolves will certainly try to slow the game down a bit in Game Three. San Antonio should continue to push the pace to create those easy looks that will open up their offense.
Guard play
San Antonio’s most significant advantage in this series has been its guards. If De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, and Castle are playing at their best, the Wolves don’t have the guard play to keep up with them. With Edwards clearly playing through an injury and Mike Conley past his prime, the Wolves have had difficulty getting to the basket. The Spurs outscored Minnesota 58-36 in the paint in Game Two.
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Mitch Johnson’s strategy has been to blitz the Wolves’ ball-handlers, sending two defenders at the ball, forcing them to pass and oftentimes, turn it over. Minnesota had 22 turnovers in Game Two. Expect the Spurs to keep pressuring Minnesota’s ball-handlers in hopes of replicating this result in Game Three.
