Spurs Sunk By Abysmal Shooting As Timberwolves Cruise to Road Victory

In Gregg Popovich's words, the San Antonio Spurs couldn't throw it in the ocean Sunday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves as they snapped a two-game win streak at home.

Dec 15, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) and Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) look for a rebound in the first half at Frost Bank Center. / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

SAN ANTONIO — Two days short of one full year after an atrocious shooting performance from the San Antonio Spurs put a blemish on Tony Parker's Hall-of-Fame night, they nearly did it again.

There wasn't any guest of honor in the house this time, and by the scoreboard, the game was much closer than losing by 36 to the New Orleans Pelicans while simultaneously giving up 146 points on a 3-point shooting clip greater than 50 percent.

But the shooting numbers were certainly comparable. And worse from deep.

“That’s what you call an ass-whooping," Gregg Popovich said that night. "They had a great night shooting, (and) we couldn’t throw it in the ocean ... we got whooped real good.”

READ MORE: Spurs Torched From 3 on Tony Parker's Hall-of-Fame Night

This time around, the margin was smaller. The Spurs fell short to Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-92 at home to break their two-game win streak, but shot just over 40 percent from the field and 11-for-45 from 3.

Dec 15, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) dribbles against San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) in the first half at Frost Bank Center. / Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

San Antonio might have missed the ocean if it tried Sunday night, too, but this time around, the main critic wasn't quite as harsh.

"We missed a lot of shots," Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson said. "Give them a lot of credit. They're a heckuva defensive team. We didn't help ourselves."

Victor Wembanyama and Harrison Barnes led the way for San Antonio, combining for 37 points and five of the team's total 3 pointers. Wembanyama added 12 rebounds and seven blocks to secure his double-double, while Jeremy Sochan followed suit with 17 points and 15 rebounds of his own.

Stephon Castle made his way back into the lineup, but struggled mightily in his return, finishing with just two points on the evening, while Devin Vassell joined him with only four.

On the other end, Minnesota was led by Anthony Edwards' 26 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker's 17 and Jaden McDaniels' 12. Rudy Gobert struggled for a majority of the night, but managed to notch 10 points and nine rebounds in the Timberwolves' winning effort.

At halftime, San Antonio went down by 15 points shooting just 34 percent from the field and 3-for-21 from 3, but managed to bring it back to within single digits after a third-quarter run — spearheaded by Julian Champagnie — re-energized Frost Bank Center.

Champagnie ended the night with 11 points, but unfortunately for the fans in attendance, the Spurs' comeback bid didn't stick.

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The Timberwolves pulled away midway through the fourth quarter, rebuilding their lead back to 14 points with six minutes to play, and from then on, any offensive production from the Spurs was too little, too late.

With the loss, San Antonio snaps its two-game win streak and falls back to .500 with a 13-13 record. Meanwhile, Minnesota improves to 14-11 and maintains the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.

Next up for the Spurs is another home contest against Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, Dec. 19. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CST.

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