The San Antonio Spurs folded in Minnesota in opposition to the Timberwolves, going 2-2 on their nine-day street journey. The latter was on the second night time of a back-to-back, however they nonetheless had the legs to down a surplus of jumpers, and San Antonio’s half-court protection was shredded, which was in the end their undoing.
The Spurs weren’t going through an excessive amount of resistance within the lane early and benefitted from 5 Minnesota turnovers, however they have been sluggish on the draw, overlaying the three-point line and allowed Anthony Edwards to get sizzling, so there wasn’t a lot separation within the first quarter. On high of that, De’Aaron Fox’s first relaxation after 5 minutes induced a slight velocity bump, however the bench asserted itself with 14 factors going into the second quarter.
Fox battered coverages and was the group’s security internet, checking again in when Minnesota sliced away their lead. Finally, the Spurs have been susceptible once they went small with Jeremy Sochan minutes at heart. There was no shot blocker to chill off all of the motion headed in direction of the lane. Nonetheless, they went to halftime forward by one and have been capturing 83.3 p.c on the rim. Their greatest issues have been Edwards and Julius Randle combining for 31 factors on 65 p.c accuracy.
Naturally, Minnesota raised the strain on Fox, but Devin Vassell took over, making 4 pictures on the proper aspect. Then Dylan Harper adopted his lead, setting the tone for the bench unit that scored on 5 straight possessions within the latter stage of the third quarter. They might solely take a four-point lead going into the fourth as a result of Edwards was just like the boogeyman on their heels, responding with 13 factors within the body.
Coach Mitch Johnson mentioned, “Firstly of the third quarter, I believed our exercise, resistance, togetherness defensively was actually poor. We turned them over, I imagine, zero occasions within the third quarter, so we simply didn’t have that stage of presence on or off the basketball.”
The nook protection that adopted was terrible and so they couldn’t comprise the dribble, finally discovering themselves in a 14-point ditch with 5 minutes left. Fox and Keldon Johnson tried placing the group on their shoulders, however the schemes didn’t maintain up as Minnesota made an immaculate six makes an attempt within the paint within the fourth quarter. Regardless of 4 Spurs logging between eight and 12 pictures, they misplaced 125-112, making it the fifth time this season they’ve given up that many factors or extra (2-3).
