Karl-Anthony Towns had 29 points and 12 rebounds, and the Minnesota Timberwolves gotridof 29 points from Victor Wembanyama to hold off the San Antonio Spurs 117-110 on Friday night in their In-Season Tournament opener.
Anthony Edwards included 28 points and Rudy Gobert had 11 points and 10 rebounds as Minnesota won its 5th straight.
Wembanyama was 12 for 21 from the field and 3 for 7 on 3-guidelines. The No. 1 choice, who was coming off a hard launching at Madison Square Garden in a loss to New York on Wednesday, included 9 rebounds, 4 helps and 4 obstructed shots.
Devin Vassell included 29 points for San Antonio.
Minnesota had significant success over Boston and Denver however had not won on the roadway this season.
San Antonio has lost 4 straight, dropping its previous 2 by an average of 31 points to Indiana and the Knicks.
In threat of another blowout loss, the Spurs opened the last quarter shooting 9 for 12 from the field and 3 for 5 on 3-guidelines to close within 104-97 with 3 minutes staying.
The Timberwolves did not let the Spurs get any better.
Minnesota developed an 18-point lead in the 3rd quarter after a slow start.
The Wolves were 9 for 15 on 3-tips in the 2nd and 3rd quarters while outscoring the Spurs 68-46. Minnesota outscored San Antonio 34-19 in the 3rd, triggered by a 19-5 run.
The Spurs minimal the Wolves to 22 points in the veryfirst quarter after permitting 44 and 33 in the opening duration of their previous videogames.
Zach Collins and Jeremy Sochan integrated to rating 13 of the Spurs’ initially 21 points. Sochan completed with 14 points and Collins had 11.
Vassell returned to the beginning lineup after missingouton 2 videogames with a strained left groin and coming off the bench in his return Wednesday at New York.
San Antonio and Minnesota are in West Group C along with Golden State, Sacramento, and Oklahoma City for the inaugural competition. The videogames count towards regular-season records otherthan for the competition last, set for Las Vegas in December.
“I think the fans are the ones that are more ecstatic than we are,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich stated. “It provides them a lot of things to talk about. It’s kind of a portent of possibly who’s going to be there at the end of the year, and they can talk about that. I believe it will be a increased competitive environment among the gamers for sure.”
UP NEXT
Timberwolves: At Golden State on Sunday.
Spurs: Host Miami on Sunday.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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