Spurs vs. Timberwolves: Victor Wembanyama Erupts for 43 Points and Six Blocks in 121-111 Win

Jonathan Kuminga had the look he wanted. Minnesota was down four with a little over six minutes to play, the crowd was getting restless, and his step-back 3 left his hand clean. Then Victor Wembanyama's arm arrived from somewhere near the rafters, the shot went the other way, and so did Wembanyama, who took Dylan Harper's feed in stride and hammered a two-handed dunk that put San Antonio back up six and pushed his own total to 40.

Wembanyama finished with 43 points, seven rebounds, four assists and six blocks, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the short-handed Minnesota Timberwolves 121-111 on Saturday night at Frost Bank Center for their fourth straight win. It was Halloween, and the scariest thing in the building was a guy who never bothered with a costume.

Minnesota arrived without Anthony Edwards (knee surgery) and Rudy Gobert (back spasms), according to the AP, one night after thumping the Clippers 127-101. Then LaMelo Ball spent most of the evening in foul trouble before fouling out. That is a lot of missing horsepower, and the Wolves still made San Antonio sweat into the final three minutes.

Haymakers in the First Half

The Spurs opened with a 10-0 burst in which Wembanyama scored eight points on a pull-up, a driving dunk, a lob and two free throws. Minnesota answered with 11 straight behind Joan Beringer, Ayo Dosunmu and Bones Hyland. Then San Antonio's reserves took their turn: Luke Kornet's tip dunk and back-to-back 3s from Julian Champagnie and Carter Bryant made it 26-18, Bryant drilled another one, and the Spurs carried a 34-28 lead out of the first quarter.

The second quarter got strange. Wembanyama flipped the ball off the backboard to himself and finished, Harper jumped the ensuing inbounds pass for another basket, and San Antonio led 43-33. Ball picked up his fourth foul and sat down with 7:40 left in the half, which should have been the end of Minnesota's resistance. Instead Minnesota caught fire without him. Kuminga and Dosunmu each scored five in a 16-0 avalanche that flipped an 11-point deficit into a 51-46 Wolves lead. A Kuminga 3 with 1:20 left made it 61-54, Minnesota's biggest lead of the night.

Wembanyama's response was pure video game. He buried a step-back 3, then another from 25 feet in the closing seconds, and a seven-point hole was down to 61-60 at the break. The Wolves took the second quarter 33-26, feasting on five San Antonio giveaways for 10 points, and still went to the locker room up only one.

Ten Straight Across the Break

Out of the break, the Spurs went 13-4, and Ball was whistled for his fifth foul less than two minutes into the half. Minnesota refused to go away, though, and a Kuminga 3 plus a Dosunmu bucket in the final minute trimmed the gap to 91-88.

Then San Antonio hit the gas. De'Aaron Fox's step-back jumper with 2.1 seconds left in the third made it 93-88. Harper opened the fourth with a 3, Wembanyama followed with a driving dunk, and Devin Vassell converted a three-point play for a 101-88 lead, San Antonio's largest of the game. Ten straight points in less than a minute and a half of game clock. That is how a coin-flip game turns into a math problem.

Minnesota had one more push in it. Dosunmu, Kuminga, Beringer and Jaden McDaniels chipped away until a McDaniels dunk made it 105-101. That set up the block, the dunk and point No. 40. Vassell hit a 10-footer moments later, Ball fouled out on an offensive foul with 3:43 left, and Wembanyama's 23-foot 3 with 2:40 remaining made it 118-107. Fox's bucket in the final half-minute capped the scoring.

Wemby Does Wemby Things

The 43 came on 17-of-34 shooting, including 3 of 8 from deep and 6 of 9 at the line, in 34 minutes. That makes 10 regular-season games of 40 or more for Wembanyama and 11 across his career, according to the AP. With Gobert out, Wembanyama feasted at the rim, catching four alley-oops from Harper and Stephon Castle, then stepped outside and punished the Wolves whenever they sagged off him.

The six blocks were the other half of the story. San Antonio blocked nine shots to Minnesota's two, and every Wolves drive came with a toll booth.

Harper was the perfect co-star: 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists in a team-high 39 minutes. Fox was ruthlessly efficient, going 8 of 10 for 22 points with seven assists, eight rebounds and a game-best plus-23. Champagnie chipped in 12 off the bench with three 3s.

For Minnesota, Dosunmu was terrific with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting, nine rebounds and three steals. Kuminga and McDaniels scored 19 apiece, and Beringer battled for 12 points and five offensive rebounds before collecting five fouls of his own. Ball managed 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals in 20 minutes, but he shot 2 of 10, turned it over five times and spent long stretches watching from the bench.

The Numbers Behind the Haunting

• 9-2: Blocked shots, San Antonio. Wembanyama had six of them by himself.
• 29-18: Points off turnovers in Minnesota's favor, with San Antonio's 16 total turnovers outnumbering the Wolves' 14.
• 60-52: San Antonio's edge in the paint.
• 49-38: The rebounding margin, with the Spurs grabbing 16 offensive boards.
• 9 of 33: Minnesota from 3-point range, a 27% night that left no margin for error.

Four Straight and Counting

The Spurs are 4-2 overall and 2-2 at home, and four straight wins after dropping their first two games says plenty about how quickly this group has found its footing. Saturday opened a three-game homestand, with Utah up next on Monday night. When the best player on the floor is also the best rim protector on the floor, a lot of early-season problems solve themselves.

Minnesota falls to 4-3 and 2-2 on the road. There is no shame in losing in San Antonio without two injured starters on the second night of a back-to-back, especially after leading by seven late in the second quarter. The Wolves get to regroup at home against the Bucks on Monday night, and the encouraging part is real: Dosunmu, Kuminga and McDaniels kept this competitive deep into the fourth with the depth chart in tatters.

Trick, Treat, Wemby

Halloween is the one night the monsters are supposed to come out. In San Antonio, the monster has season tickets to his own building, and Minnesota found out what happens when you knock on that door without two of your starters. Trick or treat? The Wolves got the trick, and Wembanyama got 43.

Stats from the official box score and play-by-play via ESPN. Injury notes and milestone figures as reported by the Associated Press.