Sports

Victor Wembanyama blocked his way to a record but couldn’t quite save the Spurs

Published

3 months ago

May 5, 2026

SAN ANTONIO — Things just got real for the San Antonio Spurs. A wake-up call was going to come eventually. It was inevitable. Not one of those Victor-Wembanyama-is-out-and-he’s-not-always-a-given kind of things. No. This was a Wembanyama-can’t-always-save-them game.

Wembanyama’s NBA playoff record 12 blocks weren’t enough in Monday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. The Minnesota Timberwolves eventually realized trying to shoot over him every possession wouldn’t work, even if Terrence Shannon Jr. told Wembanyama he would keep going at him. So they found ways to push him where they wanted him and keep him from where they didn’t.

The Spurs were so close, the margin coming down to Julian Champagnie missing a wide-open 3 at the buzzer. They lost 104-102 to a team that’s done this before, with a roster full of lengthy and nasty defenders who have made a living taking down the best players in the game. Minnesota has an identity that was forged in the fire of deep playoff runs.

Winning a first-round series usually entails the higher seed’s talent advantage blanketing everything. That doesn’t really happen at this stage, at least in today’s West.

The difference between the Spurs and Wolves this season was consistency over stretches of months. But playoff series go down in a relative instant, just a week or two of a pair of teams ramming at each other. Their best has to show up now, and the Wolves don’t have any question about their identity. All their key guys have plenty of postseason experience. Most of the Spurs are just getting their feet wet, and it showed in Game 1.

“It just went by like this, and that’s not good,” Wembanyama said. “It means I didn’t have the grasp on the game that I wish I did.”

The Wolves are built different. They’re longer, stronger, fiercer. The game plan is so much more complex against them, and it took the Spurs out of their comfort zone in the half court. The entirety of the Wolves’ defense conspired to keep Wembanyama from getting downhill by sending early help to the free-throw line. Julius Randle turned into a lead blocker on offense to move him out of the way in crunch time.

Minnesota had so many ideas, and a lot of them worked, giving it just enough of an edge to hold on. The Spurs were right there in the end, as coach Mitch Johnson’s gamble to not call a timeout on the final play paid off and the team’s best shooter, Champagnie, got a dream look that clanked off the rim. The Spurs did the things they’re supposed to do in the final minute: Wemby attacked the rim, Champagnie crashed the glass, Dylan Harper got a game-saving steal. They just didn’t have the same level of control of the game as things sped up in the late fourth quarter.

This was the first time all season Wembanyama crossed the 40-minute threshold (he had two games in the 39-minute range that rounded up), and he acknowledged that managing his energy was a factor in his offensive struggles after missing all eight of his attempts from deep. It wasn’t just that he lost some momentum at times, but that he channeled his efforts in less efficient directions.

“I feel like I have to use my energy,” Wembanyama said. “Obviously, I used a lot of it on one side of the court, and on the other side, offensively, I used too much energy on things that didn’t really help our team. So that’s on me. But first thing, I got to start making some shots.”

Wembanyama began to list the Spurs’ various problems, from his game just not feeling good to the offensive leaders of the team needing to be better.

“So basically, if everything was different, it would have been different,” Wembanyama said.

He said the loss was on him. Then De’Aaron Fox came out and said the same thing about himself. He was matter-of-fact about it, like it was obvious.

“It was me,” Fox said. “Unforced turnovers, missed shots, it wasn’t really anything that they did. They’re a good defensive team. But I think this game in particular, it was on me.”

Fox, who went 5 of 14 and 0 of 4 from 3, knows the Spurs won’t advance without him finding his touch. He started slowly in the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers, then took over as the Spurs inched closer to advancing. He’ll need to do the same thing the rest of the way against the Wolves.

Though he has been one of the team’s main vets — Harper shouted out “Unc” while Fox was speaking postgame — this is also uncharted territory for him. Last week was his first playoff series win, as well. All of the players the Spurs rely on to create their offense haven’t done it in May, which is the toughest thing to learn in the game.

Anthony Edwards has proven he can do it. When he was asked to compare how he feels now to when he was in the same position as the Spurs’ young players, making their playoff debuts and trying to find themselves against a physical opponent, he prudently sidestepped the question like he was gonna pull up for 3.

“I feel like that question is giving them the answer,” Edwards said. “It’s kind of a weird question because if I answer it, they’re gonna watch it and be like, ‘Oh, we need to do this.’ So I can’t really answer it.”

He’s right. What little edge the Wolves now hold could be gone in a moment, and every advantage is crucial in the playoffs. There are not many talent gaps anymore. Everyone has roughly the same amount. The difference comes down to execution, toughness and luck.

Wembanyama was asked if there was a silver lining in the loss, knowing just how close his team was. The idiom didn’t translate naturally for him, which was for the best.

“I don’t know what a silver lining means, but obviously, we have to be better,” Wembanyama said. “It shows up on the stat sheet, but we need to figure out before 48 hours what we can do better, and I got no doubt that we will. I trust us.”

Sports

Joe Ward rescues career with valiant Artjom Kasparian win as Stevie McKenna and Sam Hickey take stunning one-punch finishes | Boxing News

Published

1 minute ago

August 9, 2026

qasimgillani

Joe Ward staved off disaster, beating Artjom Kasparian on a unanimous decision after 10 ferocious rounds at the 3Arena in Dublin.

Ward was a true amateur boxing sensation. At 17, all the way back in 2011, he became Ireland’s youngest ever senior European gold medallist.

Though he became an Olympian, misfortune dogged his amateur career, and his pro start was even worse. He dislocated his knee and lost his professional debut.

This fight at the 3Arena in Dublin was his first since 2024 and his ticket back to the big-time

Ward did begin like he’d never been away. He peppered Kasparian with sharp southpaw punching, popping shots into the body and the head. The Manchester-based hitter even picked up a nick by his right eye.

Kasparian stayed in front of his opponent though and in the third round consecutive right hooks to the jaw tested out Ward’s chin and the visitor would then test the home hero to his limit.

Kasparian refused to take a backwards step. Ward’s arms began to look tired and he leaned on in a clinch.

Kasparian’s solution was to keep on throwing and keep hitting out with heavy shots.

The visitor got himself onto the front foot at the start of the fourth round, landing a double jab and snagging Ward as he stepped in.

Ward rapidly tired, punching with just his arms, his feet rooted to the spot, his head available to be hit. That is not the place to be against a big puncher like Kasparian.

Kasparian kept up a strong assault through the middle rounds of the fight. He was, at times, pummelling Ward and it looked like the Irishman was on the brink of disaster.

But, as well as talent, Ward has heart. He pulled it back, and brought in strong backhands to repel Kasparian in the seventh round.

Ward pounced on the opportunity, getting a second wind. He bounced a one-two off Kasparian’s head in the eighth round and started to dictate the action.

Under pressure Kasparian almost fell through the ropes and the crowd wildly cheered for Ward.

In the ninth round, Ward screwed his right in and slammed his left down again. Kasparian, though, hacked at him with left hooks.

Ward popped in a clean, accurate left cross and Kasparian staggered back a step. He harried Kasparian with a sustained combination before the round was up.

Kasparian banged in a one-two but Ward, marked under his right eye, managed to trade with gusto. Kasparian tried to reel away, but Ward kept on throwing, catching him.

Fiercely determined Kasparian slugged back, but Ward answered in kind and raised both arms in the air at the final bell.

Stevie McKenna, with older brother Aaron starring in the main event, got a memorable evening for his family off to a sensational start.

He stormed out to meet Owen O’Neill, loomed over his opponent, and slung out heavy punches. O’Neill hopped backwards, hoping to ride out the storm. But McKenna did not relent. He stayed on his prey, whacking him with a massive left hook and continuing to strafe him with wide-arm punches.

O’Neill was left with little option but to tuck up beneath the onslaught. That though was just an invitation for trouble. A one-two from McKenna lanced down and a right cross sent O’Neill flying off his feet, crashing down on the canvas. He had to be stopped there and then in the first round.

Slick Scottish middleweight prospect Sam Hickey scored a second consecutive victory with a monstrous one-punch finish.

Brad Axe was a competitive opponent, digging in and firing back when Hickey clipped him.

In the third round Hickey stepped in and short right to the side of the head dropped Axe to a knee. The bell though rang to save him.

But Axe kept himself in the fight and caught Hickey in return. Regularly though Hickey finished rounds strongly, driving Axe into the ropes only for the bell to call him off.

Hickey though finished matters at the start of the seven round, Axe bounced in and a booming right greeted him, spinning him round as he flopped down to the canvas. The towel immediately came in as Axe suffered a heavy stoppage.

Romania’s Daniel Buciuc managed to get through six rounds with Louis Greene, though was in severe trouble in the closing seconds of the bout.

After a quiet first round, Greene closed down Buciuc’s space, hammering his body with hooks. He brought hard, chopping shots through the middle jolting the Romanian.

Buciuc soon was trying to move off but he couldn’t keep himself clear. Greene took him to the ropes and Buciuc had to endure salvoes of punchers, hefty uppercuts jolting him.

He attempted to tie up Greene but that left him open to the Briton’s overarm right.

Buciuc was hanging on as Greene shook him up in the final half-minute of the contest. With his legs loosening, Buciuc still kept himself upright and got through to the final bell, Greene winning 59-55.

Connor Coyle took a unanimous points decision win after a bruising 10 rounds with the USA’s Mark Beuke. The man from Derry put himself in the ascendancy in the early going of the bout, teeing up some solid right hands that blasted straight into Coyle.

But the American took his power and a cut opened by Coyle’s right eye to complicate his evening’s efforts.

Beuke stood his ground and kept Coyle honest with heavy hooks that he managed to land with either hand. But his successes came as single blows. Coyle worked better combinations and made sure he finished their exchanges with accurate punching.

Coyle finished the bout bleeding from the nose, but reeling off straight punches to push Beuke back, winning 98-92, 98-93 and 97-93.

Patrick O’Connor, a top American cruiserweight prospect with Irish roots, made short work of Spain’s Juan Manuel Moriel.

Measured with his jab, O’Connor quickly took control. He lashed a right over and began to work the body as he ramped up his attack. The American finished a blazing combination of hooks to Moriel’s trunk with a left hook to the head.

With O’Connor about to move through the gears, the bout was stopped after the first round, Moriel citing a shoulder injury as he stayed on his stool.

The American remains unbeaten in four pro fights, all of those wins coming inside the distance.

Watch Aaron McKenna and Etinosa Oliha fight for the IBF world middleweight title in Dublin on Saturday, live on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream boxing with no contract.