El Conclusión: San Antonio Spurs 123, Minnesota Timberwolves 97

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Minnesota Timberwolves 97 FinalRecap | Box Score 123 San Antonio Spurs
Tim Duncan, PF 22 MIN | 4-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 6 AST | 1 STL | 3 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | +23 +/-

Duncan only had to play around 20 minutes and looked totally comfortable going to work against the Timberwolves’ depleted frontline. Had he played a full game (around ten extra minutes), he might have hit the triple double.

Kawhi Leonard, SF 25 MIN | 6-13 FG | 1-1 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 5 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 15 PTS | +24 +/-

Kawhi looked a little bored at the start of the game, something you can excuse a bit after the level of play he reached against LeBron on Thursday. But after seeing Wiggins hit some early, Kawhi jumped in and finished with a solid game on both ends, hitting both of his three-point attempts and notching five (!) steals.

Tiago Splitter, C 20 MIN | 5-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 12 PTS | +23 +/-

Splitter also benefitted from a depleted Wolves frontcourt, cutting and passing in the flow of the Spurs’ offense. His line is something you’d be happy with after a full game. That it came in 20 minutes is enough to earn the A, even if it did come against Minnesota.

Tony Parker, PG 25 MIN | 5-10 FG | 1-1 FT | 0 REB | 8 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 11 PTS | +25 +/-

The Spurs went assist crazy this game, and Parker’s line is the clearest example. He had eight assists in just 25 minutes. Not much to complain about here, even if the two missed three-point attempts brought down his percentage for the season.

Danny Green, SG 15 MIN | 5-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | +21 +/-

He’s been IcyHOT for a good stretch now, and he was a walking flame emoji for his short stint against the Wolves. Three triples, two assists, and a steal is a solid game on any night. Nice of the Wolves to do him a solid and let him get that in a mere fifteen minutes.

Jeff Ayres, PF 15 MIN | 3-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | -2 +/-

“Expect a big quarter from Jeff Ayres” is a thing Sean Elliott said out loud, so you know what kind of night the Spurs had. Ayres played fine, and he even got a technical. I can’t decide if that hurts or helps him here, so I’m giving him a B+.

Marco Belinelli, SF 21 MIN | 5-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 13 PTS | +2 +/-

Everybody on the Spurs seemed to be on fire, and Marco was no different. He didn’t add much besides scoring, but he didn’t need to on a night where the whole team shot 58% from the floor.

Aron Baynes, C 11 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +5 +/-

Baynes played well and likely would have played longer were it not for a rib contusion that saw him leave the game early.

Matt Bonner, C 9 MIN | 1-1 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 4 PTS | -7 +/-

Interesting tweet from Jordan Howenstine (@AirlessJordan): “Matt Bonner has now played 13,000 minutes in the NBA after tonight. 45th pick in 2003: 10 years, 4,526 points and 2 championships.” You don’t stick around that long without knowing your role and doing it well. Solid quick burn for Coach B.

Boris Diaw, C 25 MIN | 3-7 FG | 2-2 FT | 8 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 9 PTS | 0 +/-

Boris Diaw almost had a double-double in under thirty minutes. Yes, Wolves, but that was still nice to see. Like Duncan, had the game pushed his minutes up a bit, he might have had really big line.

Patty Mills, PG 17 MIN | 3-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 7 PTS | +1 +/-

Mills played a good game, but if you had told me the Spurs won by nearly thirty points, I would have expected the Aussie Bake Oven™ to have had something like a dozen three-pointers. Still, you can’t complain with his line.

Cory Joseph, PG 16 MIN | 4-5 FG | 1-1 FT | 2 REB | 7 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | +1 +/-

It was nice to see CoJo get some burn, and he made the most of his time in this one, shooting efficiently and notching seven assists in just sixteen minutes.

Manu Ginobili, SG 19 MIN | 4-5 FG | 3-4 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 4 TO | 11 PTS | +14 +/-

The story of the night, unfortunately, was not the blowout on the scoreboard but rather the one on Manu’s right ankle. He was having a solid game before landing on Gorgui Dieng’s foot and twisting his ankle. Ginobili spent a good amount of time writhing on the floor in pain, but word after the game was he’d only be out 7 to 10 days. We’ll see…

Gregg Popovich
Pop was ready to jump on his team for any perceived lack of focus, benching Green just three minutes in, but after about a quarter and a half, most of the drama was sucked out of this one as the Spurs began their blowout in earnest.

Three Things We Saw

  1. Admit it: When Manu went down, your first thought was “OH NO ACHILLES.” It’s been that kind of season around the NBA. The Spurs are fortunate to have dodged a major injury where other teams have seen key players knocked out for the year.
  2. People talk a lot about LeBron vs. Kawhi, and rightfully so, but Leonard vs. Wiggins is absolutely going to be a thing. Tonight’s game didn’t offer the drama of Thursday night’s individual matchup, but watching Leonard check Wiggins will be appointment viewing in a few years. Book it.
  3. Pssst… The Spurs are fifth in the West…
  • TD BestEVER

    GREAT bounce back game here…. The victory was never in question but i didn’t know if our guys would come out on fire or let a depleted team hang around. So it was good to see us just put them away early in the 3rd. Now its on to the 4th and possibly even the 2nd seed because Memphis isn’t looking all that great either

  • thedrwolff

    PSsst. I don’t think the 3 seed is out of reach especially since we play houston twice and portland has no mathews, but are we going 14-3 from here on out while portland goes 10-7 ???….have you looked at our schedule starting march 27th?….psst. I think the 4 seed is going to be our highest reach and OKC is taking dallas for the 7 seed.

  • joe

    I hope OKC stays in 8…OKC/GS would be an EPIC first eound

  • BobbyKe

    OKC just lost to the Mavs by Thirty & they’re trailing the Mavs by 5 1/2 games. Don’t know why anyone would think the Mavs are dropping further. They’ve only had one 3 game losing streak all season

    OKC needs to worry about NO who is very dangerous with Anthony Davis & quality core around him (Evans, Holliday, Anderson, Gordon & Asik). Pelicans aren’t going away in the battle for the 8 seed & they’d be just as tough a 1st round out as OKC is

    With the Spurs, 2nd seed is out. 5 games back, way too far, but still optimistic about the 3 or 4 seed. Seeding DOES matter. I won’t pick the Spurs to win the title if they don’t have a Top 4 seed (Nobody has made the NBA Finals as 5 seed or lower since Knicks in 99 & nobody has won it all that low since Rockets in 95)

    Spurs currently 3 1/2 back of Rockets for the 4 seed & 3 games back of Blazers for the 3 seed. If Spurs go 13-4 in their Final 17 games & finish 54-28 that means the Rockets would need to finish 10-6 to also finish 54-28 & Blazers would have to finish 10-7. Not too unrealistic

    Just as long as the Spurs keep playing at a high level they got a chance at the 3 or 4 seed no matter their competition (Any team in the West is going to have a tough finishing schedule against other West playoff teams)

  • DorieStreet

    Spurs are still only .004 from being back in the 7th spot. All of the west teams are winning at nearly the same rate-that’s why it has been so hard to move up in the standings.
    Blazers, Rockets, Mavs, Clips are not going to fade down the stretch. Everyone will play each other. It going to take a 13-4 run to get above 5th place.