Wembanyama and Spurs rebound to level against Timberwolves in NBA Playoffs

Castle’s 21 points and Wembanyama’s 19 helped Spurs crush T’wolves 133-95 as Knicks take 2-0 lead over 76ers.Victor Wembanyama scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as ‌hosts San Antonio Spurs dominated the final three quarters on the way to a 133-95 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, levelling the teams’ Western ⁠Conference semifinal series at one win apiece.San Antonio swamped the sixth-seeded Timberwolves in the ⁠second quarter, turning a seven-point lead after the opening period into a 24-point advantage at halftime on Wednesday.The Spurs expanded the margin to 98-63 after three periods as Julian Champagnie poured in all 12 of his points on the night via four 3-pointers in the frame.From there, San Antonio ⁠cruised to the finish, building their lead to as many as 47 points.Stephon Castle’s 21 points led the Spurs, with De’Aaron Fox scoring 16, Harrison Barnes tallying 12, Dylan Harper adding 11, Devin Vassell hitting for 10 points and Keldon Johnson pulling down 10 rebounds. Wembanyama canned two 3-pointers but is just 2 of 15 from behind the arc for the series.Second-seeded San Antonio have not lost back-to-back contests since January 11 at Minnesota and January 13 at Oklahoma City, a stretch of 49 games.Wembanyama said of the difference between Game 1 to Game 2, “We had intensity early ‌on. Crashing the offensive boards early, fighting for the ball and passing to the open man.“Of course, we’re gonna keep doubling up on what worked and the few things that didn’t. We’re gonna erase them. [Minnesota] is an experienced team – we know they’re going to respond. … I love how everyone had everybody’s back. It looked like a system that worked.”