Dylan Harper kept the focus on composure and resilience after the San Antonio Spurs fell 114-109 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 4 on Sunday at Target Center. The loss evened the second-round series at 2-2 and came in a game that changed fast after Victor Wembanyama’s early ejection.
Harper said the matchup was never going to be clean or easy. “I think it was a very physical game from the start to the end,” he said. “Obviously, I think there’s a whole lot of grabbing and pushing and shoving. But, I mean, that’s a part of the game.”
When Wembanyama was forced out after a Flagrant 2 foul on Naz Reid, Harper said the Spurs’ response had to be collective. “Next man up, he’s got to step up,” he said. “And I think that we all did a great job, and we just controlled what we could control at the end of the day.”
Harper also addressed the play that sent Wembanyama to the locker room, saying he understood the frustration without believing the contact was meant to injure anyone. “You never want anyone to get hurt,” Harper said. “I can see where he’s coming from. I don’t think it was intentional.”
He added that the moment came from a player trying to defend himself in a game that had already turned brutal. “It was more like they keep grabbing me,” Harper said. “You know, I’m trying to protect myself because no one else is going to protect me.”
San Antonio still had a chance late, even without its 7-foot-4 anchor. Harper said the Spurs leaned on their depth and mindset, especially after Luke Kornet stepped into the frontcourt rotation. “He did a great job,” Harper said. “He did the best job he could do, obviously. The game was really physical, pushing and shoving, but he stepped up big time for us.”
Harper said the Spurs’ road success this postseason has given them confidence in difficult settings, but Game 4 also showed the small margins that matter in playoff basketball. “You just got to tighten up on your details,” he said. “You just got to tighten up as a team on the little things.”
That lesson carried into his view of the series as a whole. “First to four,” Harper said. “This year wasn’t going to be easy. We all knew that.”
Even with the disappointment of blowing an opportunity to take control, Harper refused to let the defeat become bigger than the series itself. “I think we’re going to keep our head high,” he said. “There’s nothing to be down about.”
He also pointed to the Spurs’ repeated need to adjust on the fly. “Just next man up,” Harper said. “We kind of been there last series when he was out, game three.”
Harper finished with 24 points, and San Antonio got 24 more from De’Aaron Fox, but Minnesota’s late execution and Anthony Edwards’ 36-point night proved decisive. The Spurs now head home for Game 5 with Wembanyama’s status still under review and a series that has become even more physical and emotional than expected.
Harper said the answer is simple, even in a chaotic playoff game. “Just staying together, being together, and just battling to the end with your group of guys,” he said. “So, I mean, for us, I think we just learned to stay together and just not get too low, not get too high.”
