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Victor Wembanyama set an NBA postseason record with 12 blocks in a loss — then came back two days later and handed the Timberwolves the worst beatdown in franchise playoff history.
Victor Wembanyama hates to lose. After shouldering blame for the Spurs' 104-102 Game 1 defeat — despite posting 11 points, 15 rebounds, and an NBA postseason record 12 blocks — he made Minnesota pay in Game 2. San Antonio won 133-95 on Wednesday night, evening the Western Conference semifinals at 1-1 and topping Minnesota's previous largest postseason defeat: a 30-point loss to the Lakers on April 29, 2003.
Wembanyama scored 19 points in 25 minutes, one of eight Spurs to score at least nine points. The team put up 50/41/82 shooting splits while suffocating Minnesota defensively. The Timberwolves were held to 35 points in the first half on 7-for-24 shooting and 2-for-15 from three. Minnesota closed the game shooting 40% from the field and 30% from three, committing 22 turnovers. San Antonio dominated the paint 58-36 and out-rebounded Minnesota 55-43. Both teams went deep into their benches with 10 minutes remaining, the outcome already decided. An unnamed Timberwolves forward summed it up: "We got beat in every way possible."
Minnesota coach Chris Finch called it a punking. Wembanyama wasn't surprised. "I know this team's capable of doing all of this," he said. "I'm not surprised by any means." Game 3 is Friday in Minneapolis, with Game 4 on Sunday at Target Center.
Gobble's Take: Wemby went from scapegoat to executioner in 48 hours — Minnesota might want to stop poking that bear.
Sources: Yahoo Sports NBA · CBS Sports NBA
The box score says Knicks 108, Sixers 102. The story the Knicks are actually worried about is the one that started when OG Anunoby walked off the court with 2:31 remaining and didn't come back — even with the game still in doubt.
Anunoby's numbers in this playoff run aren't just good, they're load-bearing: 21.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game, on 61.2% shooting from the field and 52.8% from three. The Knicks have been outscoring opponents by 14.75 points per game with him on the floor. After Game 2, he wasn't available to reporters, and coach Mike Brown had no injury update to offer. The Knicks still closed it out — Jalen Brunson delivered down the stretch, Mikal Bridges hit a step-back jumper from 20 feet to put the Knicks up six with three minutes to play and finished with 18 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns posted 20 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Bridges also helped limit Tyrese Maxey to seven points on nine shots in the second half after Maxey poured in 19 in the first. The win came against a Philadelphia team without Joel Embiid, who was sidelined with hip and ankle injuries. The Sixers shot 21.1% from the floor in the fourth quarter and went 1-for-10 from three after shooting 50% from deep through three quarters.
Miles McBride, who closed the game in Anunoby's place, didn't flinch when asked about stepping up. "Everyone is going to have to step up," he said. "You don't replace him with one guy." The Knicks lead 2-0. Game 3 heads to Philadelphia.
Gobble's Take: Going up 2-0 without Embiid is the easy part — doing it without Anunoby is the test New York didn't sign up for.
Sources: Yahoo Sports NBA · CBS Sports NBA
Picture Tobias Harris standing in the paint — guarding a man on the wing. That's Dean Wade's playoff life in one image, and it's quietly strangling Cleveland's offense from the inside.
Wade is, by every measure, the Cavaliers' best perimeter defender in these playoffs. He's made it difficult for Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, and now Cade Cunningham to get to their spots. His defensive impact is real. But the moment his shot stops falling, his defender stops guarding him — and when your starting wing can be left alone on the three-point line while playing alongside two centers in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, the floor becomes a traffic jam. Wade is taking just 5.3 shots per game in 25 playoff minutes, translating to a 9.5% usage rate — the lowest of any player at his position in the entire playoffs. He's a career 36.7% three-point shooter, so it's not that he can't make them. He's just barely attempting them, and when confidence dips, he stops trying altogether. The result: his defender camps in the paint, Donovan Mitchell's driving lanes disappear, and the Cavs end up settling for Evan Mobley pull-up threes — exactly what opposing defenses want.
Cleveland doesn't have a clean solution. Wade on the court cramps the offense. Wade off the court weakens the defense. Game 2 against Detroit is Thursday at 7 p.m. ET on Prime Video, with Game 3 set for Saturday, May 9th — and the Cavs need to find a way to make Wade's presence feel like a weapon before the Pistons figure out it's a liability.
Gobble's Take: When your best defender is also your offense's biggest dead zone, you don't have a rotation problem — you have an architectural one.
Source: Yahoo Sports NBA, CBS Sports NBA
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