Spurs even series by handing Wolves record-setting loss

Chris Hine, The Minnesota Star Tribune on May 7, 2026

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SAN ANTONIO – Any time a road team gets a victory to start a playoff series, they can feel content with what they did, knowing that if they take care of business at home, they can now win the series.

That was the position the Timberwolves were in for Game 2 against the Spurs — and they played like they were simply content with claiming Game 1.

The Spurs ran them off the floor tonight in Game 2 with a 133-95 drubbing.

Game 3 is Friday at Target Center after the Wolves suffered their most lopsided playoff loss in franchise history. The previous margin was 30, set twice, including last season's Western Conference finals against the Thunder.

"They just kicked our butt in every aspect of the game ... offensively, defensively, it didn't matter," said Wolves coach Chris Finch. "They took it to us, and we didn't really respond very well."

San Antonio held the Wolves to just 35 points in the first half, which was as many as the Spurs had in an impressive second quarter that decided the game. They were up 59-35 at the half and buried the helpless-looking Wolves early.

Offense was hard to come by all around, and the wheels came off after Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels picked up his third foul in the second quarter.

The Spurs outscored the Wolves by 15 the rest of the half. McDaniels’ foul trouble continued when he picked up a fourth guarding Stephon Castle. Castle led the Spurs with 21 points, 9-for-9 at the free-throw line.

Spurs center Victor Wembanyama had 19 points and 15 rebounds.

In the first half, the Wolves shot just 30% from the field and 13% from three-point range and had 11 turnovers. San Antonio dominated them in transition (29 fast-break points to five) and points in the paint.

After the Wolves spent a lot of time talking about how they were going to keep attacking Wembanyama, even after he had 12 blocks in Game 1. Wembanyama had just two blocks in Game 2, because the Wolves either didn’t challenge him or they couldn’t get far enough on the San Antonio defense to do so.

Nobody among the Wolves’ regulars had more than 12 points, with McDaniels, Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards hitting that mark.

The Wolves had 22 turnovers. Guard Ayo Dosunmu was able to play after recovering from a calf injury, but sat out the second half because of a sore heel.

The Spurs ramped up the physicality from Game 1 and came out like a team with something to prove, while the Wolves came out like a team that was just happy to go back to Minnesota with a split.