The San Antonio Spurs overcame a hostile Minnesota crowd, a full dose of Anthony Edwards and foul trouble to star Victor Wembanyana on Friday night, battling to a 115-108 victory and a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson rolled the dice in the fourth quarter, leaving Wembanyama in the game despite his star carrying five fouls with six minutes to go. It didn’t matter, as Wembanyama dominated down the stretch. He finished with 39 points, 15 rebounds, 5 blocks and, crucially, just the 5 fouls.

Wembanyama’s box-score-filling performance overcame the heroics of Edwards. The Wolves’ star, who has been limited by knee pain throughout the playoffs, started for the first time this series. He played 40 minutes, scoring 32 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and dishing out six assists.

Wembanyama received plenty of support, as four other Spurs scored in double figures, led by De’Aaron Fox’s 17. Naz Reid scored 18 and Jaden McDaniels chipped in 17 to back Edwards’ effort.

The Timberwolves made this a game despite a brutal start, missing their first 12 field-goal attempts. Rudy Gobert’s putback with 5:08 left in the first quarter stopped the skid and pulled Minnesota within 14-3.

Game 4 is on Sunday in Minneapolis.

Here are the key takeaways from the game.

Victor Wembanyama broke the game

Victor Wembanyama finally had his takeover game, and it was a masterful threading of physicality and skill that became one of the greatest performances of his career. He became the fifth player ever with his stat line of 39 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks in a playoff game, joining Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain (unofficially), per Stathead. He managed to survive all of crunch time with five fouls and didn’t let the Wolves take too much advantage of that. Meanwhile, he dragged Rudy Gobert out of the paint and completely cooked, especially down the stretch of the game. Whether it was driving in isolation situations, setting up flare actions to spot up for 3 or just getting buckets from the post, Wembanyama did it all.

This was the kind of game you need to have to be considered one of the best players in the game. He was not just a great cog in a good system, but someone who broke the game single-handedly. That’s what he did all night. This was the defining performance of his career, both in his dominance and his ability to stay on the floor. — Jared Weiss, Spurs writer

This series is everything the playoffs should be about

Wembanyama and Edwards went toe-to-toe in epic joust of superstars. McDaniels and Stephon Castle got into it. Referee Tony Brothers went after Timberwolves coach Chris Finch.

You read that right. Finch complained about a foul not being called as the Spurs trapped Edwards out near half court. After Finch called a timeout, Brothers didn’t call a technical foul. Instead, he yelled at Finch. And moments later, after Finch left his huddle to head towards Brothers, the referee had to be held back.

The intensity of these Western Conference semifinals picked up dramatically. And after the Spurs’ 115-108 win Friday, it only figures to turn up another notch. The Wolves will be desperate to even the series and will have two players coming off duds. McDaniels and Julius Randle combined to shoot 8 of 34 from the field.

The defense on both sides is physical and aggressive. The Spurs have suffocated Minnesota’s offense, holding the hosts to 38.4 percent from the field. The Wolves have not solved Wembanyama, who is significantly diminishing Minnesota’s inside presence. Minnesota, the same squad torched Denver for more than 60 points in a game in the first round, had just 38 points in the paint. The Spurs are up on them, swiping at the ball, trapping Edwards and funneling all action to Wembanyama. And he’s trying to block everything.

The Timberwolves were for the most part formidable on defense. The Spurs shot 38.8 percent from the field — if you take away Wembanyama. Minnesota couldn’t figure him out on the offensive end either. — Marcus Thompson II, NBA senior writer

Anthony Edwards emptied the tank

Anthony Edwards doesn’t have the explosion that he normally does. He can’t turn the corner and elevate. His aching knees won’t allow it. But he just doesn’t seem to care.
Edwards returned to the starting lineup, blew by whatever pre-set minutes limit there was for him and threw everything he had at the Spurs. He made 12 of 26 shots and had six assists in 41 minutes, an inspiring effort even though he was nowhere close to 100 percent.

Edwards was limited to 24 minutes in the first two games after surprising everyone and returning for the start of this series. In Game 3, he didn’t seem to have quite enough gas in the fourth quarter. He scored only two points in the final frame before a late 3 with the game already decided, and the Wolves just couldn’t quite generate enough offense to match the Spurs.

Of the 14 rebounds Edwards grabbed, almost every one of them seemed to be in traffic. His two 3s at the end of the first quarter helped the Wolves erase an early 15-point deficit and the gravity he commanded opened things up for his teammates.

But Jaden McDaniels was 5-of-22 and Julius Randle was 3-of-12 from the floor, unable to give their banged-up leader enough support down the stretch.

The Wolves have always played their best with their backs against the wall. Now they’re down 2-1 and facing what is essentially a must-win game on Sunday. — Jon Krawczysnki, Timberwolves writer