Victor Wembanyama is still years away from hitting his prime.
That’s a scary factoid with the San Antonio Spurs star already rating as one of the best players in the NBA at age 22.
Wembanyama is coming off a historic performance and he will look to deliver another big-time showing when the second-seeded Spurs face the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday in Game 4 of the Western Conference second-round series at Minneapolis.
San Antonio holds a 2-1 series lead thanks to the Frenchman’s terrific effort in Game 3.
Wembanyama recorded 39 points, 15 rebounds and five blocked shots in the 115-108 road victory on Friday. He became the fourth player in NBA history to produce at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in a playoff game.
The others are Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal (three times), Hakeem Olajuwon (three times) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (twice). The NBA began tracking blocks at the start of the 1973-74 season.
“It’s good to be along with the big fellas,” Wembanyama said.
Wembanyama made 13 of 18 shots from the field in Game 3, which included three 3-pointers. He also hit 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.
“He really imposed himself on the game,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “He established himself dominating the paint and rim on both ends. When he does that, it kind of feels like everything opens up for himself and his teammates. Then he gets some shots on the perimeter. He gets some closeouts. He gets the gravity in terms of teams trying to be physical with him.”
Naturally, Wembanyama expects another big effort to be necessary in Game 4.
“I think we haven’t done anything yet,” Wembanyama said. “I think we showed some strength during (Friday’s) game, some relentlessness that we’ve got to prove. We’ve still got to prove to ourselves that we can sustain that. Sometimes it feels like being in a more hostile environment, a harder environment, forces us to step up our game and be on our criteria even more.”
San Antonio’s win on Friday broke a seven-game losing streak in Minneapolis that dated back to October 2022.
The Timberwolves look for their star, guard Anthony Edwards, to help produce a series-tying performance.
Edwards was plenty good in Game 3 with 32 points, 14 rebounds and six assists as he was finally unleashed to play a full game for the first time since suffering a hyperextended left knee that caused him to miss the final two games of the first-round series against the Denver Nuggets.
Edwards averaged just 15 points in the first two games of the San Antonio series while being limited to 25 and 24 minutes. Edwards played a game-high 40 minutes, 33 seconds on Friday.
“He needed that. We needed that,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said of Edwards’ stellar outing. “He’s battling back to find a game like this, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the result that went along with it.”
The Timberwolves shot just 38.4% from the field (38 of 99) and never led by more than four points despite being on their home floor.
“I feel like we had a bunch of great looks,” Edwards said. “And if we make our shots, we win the game.”
Jaden McDaniels (17 points) was just 5-of-22 shooting and Julius Randle (12 points) made only 3 of 12.
Some of the pair’s subpar shooting was due to Wembanyama’s presence. He altered several shots in addition to the ones he blocked.
“They got somebody who’s 7-6 on the floor, and he takes up a lot of space,” Edwards said. “So just trying to, you know, figure out ways to find an open man around him, because in the paint he was just everywhere.”
Wembanyama has averaged 5.0 blocks over seven games this postseason, including a postseason-record 12 in Game 1 of this series when the Timberwolves prevailed 104-102.
