The San Antonio Spurs are headed to the Western Conference finals after overwhelming the Minnesota Timberwolves 139-109 in Game 6 on Friday night at Target Center.
San Antonio closed the second-round series in six games behind another dominant performance from its young core, with Stephon Castle leading the way with 32 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. The second-year guard buried his first five 3-pointers and finished 11-for-16 from the field in one of the biggest playoff performances of his career.
The Spurs will now face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference finals. Oklahoma City swept both the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers in the first two rounds and enters the series with extra rest before Game 1 on Monday night.
Victor Wembanyama did not need a huge scoring night for San Antonio to take control. After posting 27 points, 17 rebounds and five assists in the Game 5 win, the 7-foot-4 star finished with 19 points, six rebounds and three blocks in just 27 minutes on Friday.
Minnesota crowded Wembanyama throughout the game, but the Spurs consistently punished the defense with perimeter shooting and transition offense. De’Aaron Fox added 21 points and nine assists while shooting 3-for-3 from deep, and Julian Champagnie scored 18 points with four made 3-pointers.
San Antonio finished 18-for-38 from beyond the arc and shot 56% from the field overall. The Spurs also recorded 34 assists and outscored the Timberwolves by 31 points in the first half to remove any suspense from the elimination game.
The backcourt pressure and switch-heavy defensive system repeatedly disrupted Minnesota’s rhythm throughout the series. The Spurs outscored the Timberwolves by 97 total points across the six games and never trailed by double digits at any point in the matchup.
Rookie Dylan Harper continued to provide depth off the bench with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting, giving San Antonio another scoring option behind its starting group.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 24 points, but he struggled for efficiency while facing constant defensive attention from Castle, Fox and Devin Vassell. Edwards shot 9-for-26 from the floor and committed three turnovers.
The Timberwolves also received strong bench production from Terrence Shannon Jr., who scored 21 points, and Naz Reid, who added 18 points and seven rebounds. However, Minnesota’s starting frontcourt failed to generate offense consistently.
Julius Randle scored only three points on 1-for-8 shooting, while Rudy Gobert went scoreless in 22 minutes. Minnesota shot just 38% from the field and fell behind early as San Antonio repeatedly attacked mismatches in transition and off defensive switches.
The loss continued a troubling trend for the Timberwolves in recent postseason elimination games. Minnesota trailed by 33 points at halftime in last year’s Western Conference finals elimination loss to Oklahoma City and also suffered a lopsided conference finals defeat against Dallas in 2024.
San Antonio, meanwhile, continues to accelerate faster than expected. The Spurs won 62 games during the regular season, eliminated Portland in five games in the first round, and now enter a showdown against the top-seeded Thunder with one of the league’s most balanced lineups.
