Game Thread Playoffs Round 2, Game 1: Spurs vs Timberwolves (0-0) (Mon 05/04/2026) [8:30 CDT]

[BatManu20]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2051540167756787922

 

[Robz4000]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2051540167756787922

More bulletin board material for Finch tbh.

 

[Ice009]

More bulletin board material for Finch tbh.

Shit. I never thought of it that way. lol. You gotta watch what you say against these guys. Their coach uses it for free motivation.

F#@king free motivation.

And Shannon's not scared at all. He's got the right mindset about Victor having to block all his shots and that he can't block them all, he'll still try and dunk it on him etc. That's relentless, and that's what I want to hear from my players.

 

[spursparker9]

More bulletin board material for Finch tbh.

Finch sure know how to stir the emotions and extra motivation for his players to give them the extra juice

Meanwhile, that is not who we are

 

[tearsofmorningdew]

The wolves are this decades grit and grind grizzlies—annoying physical team that is a temporary speed bump to superior teams that themselves will never win shit.

Still can’t believe we let ant off the hook playing on one knee. Harper was the only one interested in testing it everyone else left him off the hook. No faith that our guys try to test it the rest of this series.

 

[amans]

I guess I would have even been able to live with Fox taking the shot instead. I agree with you. I think it was a poor decision to not call a timeout. It ended up being an OK look, but I don't believe it'st he correct thing to do.

Now if the Spurs had multiple plays drilled in practice for these scenarios, great, but it looks like they didn't. Wasting three second not knowing what to do is crazy.

Thanks for going back and looking at it. I didn't want to watch it again. Did Harper look gassed to you?

I wouldn't be able to tell if he was gassed honestly, but judging the way he skied high for that rebound I would guess he could have gone to the rim if he really wanted to. Not sure there was enough time for a run to the rim, we really wasted those crucial seconds off the clock and didn't have that many choices.
However if a timeout was called with 8 seconds, that's a totally different scenario and you have time to draw up a play and even get a shot off and have the chance at an offensive rebound or tip. I believe the no timeout call was a costly mistake, we are not some veteran savvy team playing with a prime Lebron James or Steph Curry for example, to go the length of the court with 5 seconds and create a good clean look for the win. Mitch should have seen the confusion and called the timeout immediately even at 5-6-7 seconds. You might be able to get a clean look or a layup or get Wemby near the rim. Even if Julian made that shot, I still do not think no timeout is the best choice for our young team and everyone defending just seems to falling in line for no good reason. If it was Pop doing that, everyone would be fuming I'd guess.
And I'll repeat no matter how bad he played today, Fox is still our closer and the ball more often than not needs to be in his hands for the final shot as Wemby cannot create much offense on his own and hasn't shown or proven he can close games.

 

[spursistan]

I'd say that the biggest difference is that back then we knew that our guys would step up when it mattered because they've seen it all before.
Now? I can't speak for others, but I've got no confidence in Mitch and his generic both coaching and press conference.
Finch just stole home court advantage and is already talking about how some of Wemby's blocks were goaltending and that they'd like those points back.

It doesn't even matter if those shots were goaltending, he knows what he's doing by putting pressure on the refs.
Did Mitch ever talk about Wemby being held on most players and rarely getting fouls?


33% on stepbacks isn't that bad, but it's only 3-9 in 82 regular season games.
Not his game.
I'd rather have someone who's at 25% on 100 attempts than someone who barely takes those shots.

Said it in the Wemby thread. He is already coming off like a good puppy taking it on the chin while Finch was doing a preemtive ref-work strikes. This series feels like a coaching mismatch that we're going to have to overcome by pure talent.

 

[Rocalcio]

If we lose I hope it’s a sweep so real changes are made. I’m hopeful for a win in 5 or 6

Damn you’re really asking for « real changes » after such a season ?

 

[timtonymanu]

Blazers fans on Reddit celebrating that Wemby lost. Worry about your cheap owner fucking up your poverty franchise.

 

[spursistan]

Prediction for the rest of the series.


Game 2 Wolves
Game 3 Spurs
Game 4 Wolves
Game 5 Spurs
Game 6 Spurs
Game 7 Wolves

4-3 Minnesota. I shifted my pick to Wolves because I simply don't trust both Mitch Johnson and Fox to deliver in the pressure/critical moments of a classic fine margins series. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Ice009]

I wouldn't be able to tell if he was gassed honestly, but judging the way he skied high for that rebound I would guess he could have gone to the rim if he really wanted to. Not sure there was enough time for a run to the rim, we really wasted those crucial seconds off the clock and didn't have that many choices.
However if a timeout was called with 8 seconds, that's a totally different scenario and you have time to draw up a play and even get a shot off and have the chance at an offensive rebound or tip. I believe the no timeout call was a costly mistake, we are not some veteran savvy team playing with a prime Lebron James or Steph Curry for example, to go the length of the court with 5 seconds and create a good clean look for the win. Mitch should have seen the confusion and called the timeout immediately even at 5-6-7 seconds. You might be able to get a clean look or a layup or get Wemby near the rim. Even if Julian made that shot, I still do not think no timeout is the best choice for our young team and everyone defending just seems to falling in line for no good reason. If it was Pop doing that, everyone would be fuming I'd guess.
And I'll repeat no matter how bad he played today, Fox is still our closer and the ball more often than not needs to be in his hands for the final shot as Wemby cannot create much offense on his own and hasn't shown or proven he can close games.

I can't argue with your last point. Even though Fox was terrible, it would have been cool to see him get a three off and win the game. But yeah, I can't discount that Victor can't create his own shot, it's just that I want the ball in my best players hands and that is usually Victor and should really be De'Aaron. This game Harper was maybe even the best player on the court for the Spurs, so I would have liked him to have the ball in his hands to either take the shot or pass it off for a good look to someone else. I guess Fox would have been a good secondary option. It's tough to give it to Victor, though, as he can't create too well for himself Doing it in the regular season is one thing, but they would have made it hard for him to dribble and get a shot off. It would have to have been one of the guys passing it inside to the free throw line distance, BUT Victor loves hanging out at the three point line.

 

[spursistan]

My thoughts exactly.

Did Champ get a look? Yes.

But it was a rushed shot off a broken possession where he was probably wondering wtf am I shooting this? And we didnt need a three.

You’ve got the tallest guy in the damn building, draw up something for him

Breaking: Mitch sucks at ATOs plays. It's sad but true .

 

[mexpurs21]

These 'learning' losses suck, but they’re necessary for our young core (and Mitch) to mature. We lacked that playoff veteran experience and grit tonight, and the Wolves definitely punished our rotations, but it’s a wake-up call to never underestimate the opponent.

Mitch and the staff have some adjustments to make for sure. They outworked us this time, but we’ve seen this team respond to adversity many times before. Back to the practice court and video room, fix the mismatches (with the material we have available), and keep the faith…I’d never bet against our guys. Spurs in 6!

 

[Robz4000]

Prediction for the rest of the series.


Game 2 Wolves
Game 3 Spurs
Game 4 Wolves
Game 5 Spurs
Game 6 Spurs
Game 7 Wolves

4-3 Minnesota. I shifted my pick to Wolves because I simply don't trust both Mitch Johnson and Fox to deliver in the pressure/critical moments of a classic fine margins series. Hope I'm wrong.

If the Spurs lose game two they're getting swept imo.

 

[timtonymanu]

Prediction for the rest of the series.


Game 2 Wolves
Game 3 Spurs
Game 4 Wolves
Game 5 Spurs
Game 6 Spurs
Game 7 Wolves

4-3 Minnesota. I shifted my pick to Wolves because I simply don't trust both Mitch Johnson and Fox to deliver in the pressure/critical moments of a classic fine margins series. Hope I'm wrong.

You think we can win 2 road games but still lose the series? Unfortunately, I see this as similar to Spurs Grizzlies 2011 with Minny closing it out in 6.

 

[100%Duncan]

Blazers fans on Reddit celebrating that Wemby lost. Worry about your cheap owner fucking up your poverty franchise.

I cant ever be on reddit after a loss tbh
Especially during the playoffs


Good thing I deleted all socials back in December.

 

[timtonymanu]

I cant ever be on reddit after a loss tbh
Especially during the playoffs


Good thing I deleted all socials back in December.

Funny thing is, it just popped up on my feed. I don’t even follow their subreddit. Probably because I lurked there one time during the series lol.

 

[spursistan]

You think we can win 2 road games but still lose the series? Unfortunately, I see this as similar to Spurs Grizzlies 2011 with Minny closing it out in 6.

Think this team is tough as nails but they have issues executing offense late in games. I just don't trust Fox with the ball making the right plays to close out these one/two possessions games. Genuinely don't understand how he got the "clutch" moniker. He looks rattled AF.

 

[amans]

These 'learning' losses suck, but they’re necessary for our young core (and Mitch) to mature. We lacked that playoff veteran experience and grit tonight, and the Wolves definitely punished our rotations, but it’s a wake-up call to never underestimate the opponent.

Mitch and the staff have some adjustments to make for sure. They outworked us this time, but we’ve seen this team respond to adversity many times before. Back to the practice court and video room, fix the mismatches (with the material we have available), and keep the faith…I’d never bet against our guys. Spurs in 6!

Spurs in 6 requires 4 wins from the next 5 games, won't say impossible but highly doubt that against this strong and veteran Wolves team. Before the series I had Spurs in 5/6 depending on Edwards early availability but nobody imagined he'd be back in Game 1. I'm gonna say Spurs in 7, Game 2 win is a must.
I'm confident we will find the necessary adjustments to make on offense and defense, I think Gobert will be played off the court because Minnesota will want to stretch the floor and keep Wemby away from the paint and they can't do that with Gobert on the floor, and the Spurs will find the necessary moves to defend this adjustment. Wemby probably will need to be on Shannon/McDaniels and let them shoot away. Meanwhile Minnesota's interior defense should take a big hit if Gobert can't play big minutes and the Spurs will have to take advantage of that with Wemby, Castle, Fox, Harper making plays to the hoop to get easy buckets.

 

[amans]

And it has been said here probably a thousand times, but my God what an awful foul call by the refs calling Castle's fifth foul. That was a joke and sometimes I wonder what the fuck the refs are seeing or smoking during games. Randle shoves Castle down without any foul or contact by Castle and he gets called for his fifth foul, a masterclass by the refs

 

[spursistan]

I’m conflicted all around because:

1. I like a timeout. A good team takes a time out
2. I feel like we win in OT, I take a well drawn up play for 2
3. We are so young and honestly looked lost when we got the board
4. We are also a terrible out of timeout team. We never have a well drawn up play that’s also well executed
5. We actually ended up with a descent look anyway
6. Julz earned that shot
7. Nobody else was making shots anyway so high chance whoever gets the drawn up play misses

All these things are true tbh. I’m ok with the outcome and julz getting the shot for it

A professional scout with focus on Spurs said this to Nate Duncan on his podcast during pre-season. It's the single most glaring weakness in Mitch Johnson's performance ever since he took over from Pop a week into 2024-25 season. I think he's been proven right.

 

[mexpurs21]

A professional scout with focus on Spurs said this to Nate Duncan on his podcast during pre-season. It's the single most glaring weakness in Mitch Johnson's performance ever since he took over from Pop a week into 2024-25 season. I think he's been proven right.

Play calling on crunch time has been atrocious this season, remember the GSW game in November when the last “play” ended up with inbounding the ball to Fox to the OPPOSITE side three point line and then sprinting and playing hero ball with a hand on his face, no screens, no cuts, no nothing

 

[Ice009]

If the Spurs lose game two they're getting swept imo.

Yeah, I said the same thing. Game 2 is the biggest game of the season now for the Spurs. Must win game. Denver wilted in Minnesota, lost all three games there, and one of them was to a severely undermanned Wolves team. Spurs are not going to find it easy to win there.

 

[LeBowen]

 

[LeBowen]

It's why Pop was garbage the second Duncan retired.