Victor Wembanyama sets NBA postseason record with 12 blocks, but fails to lead Spurs past Timberwolves in Game 1
Victor Wembanyama made a historic defensive stand Monday night to kick off the Western Conference semifinals.
But, surprisingly, it wasn’t enough to lift the San Antonio Spurs to an easy victory.
The Minnesota Timberwolves jumped out to a late lead Monday night at Frost Bank Center for a 104-102 win over the Spurs in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
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Wembanyama set the NBA postseason single-game blocks record in the contest. The French star made 12 blocks in the loss to Spurs, breaking a record that had only been set three other times in league history. Even Wembanyama only needed three quarters to equal that record.
Then he made an 11th block to break the minutes record in the fourth quarter, putting Anthony Edwards at the rim.
Andrew Bynum, with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2012, was the last player to record double-digit stops in a playoff game. Hakeem Alajuwon and Mark Eaton are the other two.
Although now, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year is the only one at the top of that list. And it was just the sixth playoff game of his career.
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But despite this, Spurs now find themselves in a 1-0 situation.
Victor Wembanyama equals block record for 3 quarters
Edwards returned Monday night after missing nine days with a bone bruise in his left knee, which he first suffered during Game 4 of the Timberwolves’ series with the Denver Nuggets. Edwards played on a minutes restriction and came off the bench, but looked to be his usual self.
After a quick foul, he immediately made an impact. Edwards helped spark a big 12-2 run to keep the Timberwolves ahead in just the first quarter, which included burying a huge 3-pointer and then immediately letting the Spurs bench know.
But Spurs never went away and the two teams went into half-time level looking very even. Wembanyama also had seven blocks at halftime. Two of those came on the Timberwolves’ first two offensive possessions of the game, and two more came when he blocked Julius Randle consecutively from deep to force a shot clock violation midway through the second quarter.
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Although Wembanyama shined defensively, he only had six points and went 0-for-5 from the 3-point line in the first 24 minutes.
Wembanyama opened the second half with a quick left-handed dunk through Rudy Gobert, but both teams continued to go back and forth throughout the third quarter. The Spurs only led by three points in the final period after a wild buzzer-beater by KeldonJohnson.
By then, Wembanyama had equaled the league’s single-game playoff blocks record. This was also the most in Spurs franchise history.
Then, just minutes into the fourth quarter, Wembanyama pinned Edwards at the rim for his record-tying 11th block. That also set up a layup by De’Aaron Fox at the other end, putting the Spurs up by three at that point.
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But that block sparked something in the Timberwolves. They reeled off a 14-2 explosion, capped by a Mike Conley 3-pointer from the corner, to suddenly take a nine-point lead, the largest of the game up to that point. Spurs and Wembanyama looked agitated.
Even though Julian Champagnie had a good look at the game winner, he was just off the mark. The Timberwolves, even with a Wembanyama nearly impossible to get around, came away with the two-point win.
This post will be updated with more information soon.