After Minnesota closed within 102-100, Victor Wembanyama, as part of a 16 point fourth quarter masterpiece, captained a 13-8 finish, and San Antonio righted the wrongs of their earlier free throw shooting woes to put away the Wolves 115-108. With Anthony Edwards inserted into the starting lineup for game 3, it was a tale of two first quarters as the Spurs surged to an 18-3 advantage and promptly ceded nearly all of it back to the Wolves in the closing four minutes. Despite the teams being knotted at 51 at the half, San Antonio was able to grab a hold of the lead through most of the second half before Wembanyama’s crunchtime takeover.
Minnesota
Mike Conley exits Minnesota after making a quiet but significant impact with the Wolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves were lost in the winter of 2023, trying like hell to make an unconventional frontcourt of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns work as they pushed to enter the contender conversation in the Western Conference.
On Feb. 7 of that year, they lost by 34 points to the Denver Nuggets. They had the 20th-ranked offense, a clunky, clogged unit that couldn’t seem to get out of its own way or figure out how to best use Gobert to their advantage. They needed a key to unlock them.
They needed Mike Conley.
A few days later, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly swung what would become one of the best trades in franchise history, sending D’Angelo Russell to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team deal that brought Conley and Nickeil Alexander-Walker from Utah.
Conley spent three seasons quarterbacking the Jazz offense with Gobert in the middle. He understood the big man’s idiosyncrasies. He knew what it took to keep him happy, which also made sure that Gobert was at his best on the other end of the floor. And he came into a young and excitable locker room and added a cool-headed maturity that was desperately needed.
He did not yell and scream to get his teammates’ attention. He was the quiet voice in the background, whispering in Anthony Edwards’ ear and nudging Jaden McDaniels and KAT down the right path. One of the league’s last true point guards, Conley helped guide the Wolves to back-to-back Western Conference finals runs, a level of unprecedented success in franchise history.
“He’s meant a lot to my career,” McDaniels said earlier this season. “Mike’s always been someone I can go to if I don’t know what’s going on or if I just want to talk. He’s more than a vet to me. I feel like he’s a good friend.”
Minnesota Mike’s run came to an end on Tuesday.
The Timberwolves agreed to send Conley to Chicago in a three-team trade that also involves the Detroit Pistons, team sources confirmed to The Athletic. Minnesota had to attach a first-round pick swap in 2026 to get off of Conley’s contract, a move that will save the team upwards of $20 million in luxury-tax payments.
It remains to be seen if this move is a precursor to something bigger — the Wolves have been in talks with Milwaukee about Giannis Antetokounmpo in addition to looking at other options to bolster their bench, such as Chicago’s Coby White or Ayo Dosunmu — or if this just allows the Wolves to get under the first salary apron.
In some ways, Conley’s struggles in his 19th season in the league could make this addition by subtraction either way. At 38, he is shooting 33 percent on 2s and 32 percent on 3s while playing a career-low 18.6 minutes per game. The floater that made him such a devastating pick-and-roll ballhandler has abandoned him. He is shooting just 21 percent from that range this season, per Basketball-Reference.com. He has scored more than six points just twice in the last 17 games, once when he scored seven and once when he scored nine.
But Wolves coach Chris Finch has continued to lean on him anyway.
Finch has never fully trusted Rob Dillingham, the second-year player who was drafted with the No. 8 pick in 2025, to eventually take over for Conley. Finch valued Conley’s basketball IQ and decision-making on a team that can often be severely lacking in both categories. He also believed in Conley’s ability to stick to the game plan on defense, chase shooters around screens and cover for mistakes elsewhere.
“Makes all the small plays, his defense is on point,” Finch said earlier this season. “If he gets beat, it’s usually only because he loses a physical matchup, maybe size, strength, quickness or something like that. We’re just better with him on the floor, but certainly in clutch situations.”
All the little things Conley has always done could not make up for the lack of a scoring threat he has become. He did not score a point in four of his last eight games, including a dispiriting loss in Memphis on Monday night.
The end of Conley’s tenure does not do justice to the impact he made in Minnesota. He will forever be remembered in these parts for his role in what has been, to this point, the defining sequence of Timberwolves basketball. In Game 7 of the 2024 Western Conference semifinals in Denver, Conley tracked down Nuggets guard Jamal Murray in the backcourt, ripped the ball from him and started a chain reaction that ended up with an Edwards 3 in the corner, essentially icing a 20-point comeback on the road against the defending champions.
It was a stay marked with selflessness, never more so than at the start of this season when he graciously accepted Finch’s decision to move him to the bench and start Donte DiVincenzo. During a stretch of December, Conley saw his minutes drastically reduced to allow Finch and the Wolves to get a longer look at Dillingham at backup point guard. He did not sulk or pout. He leaned in to support his teammates on the floor.
“He’s like my mental coach,” guard DiVincenzo said at the time. “If he sees I’m not 100 percent locked in or whatever, he knows when to get on you, but he also knows when to pick you up. … Most guys in this league, at that stage of their career and they’re on the sideline, they’re not locked in. He’s locked in the entire game. He’s happy for everybody, and he just wants to keep racking up wins.”
With Conley gone, more pressure will immediately fall on Bones Hyland to carry the point guard minutes with the second unit. Hyland has been up and down since entering the rotation earlier this year. He has had big moments, including 17 points in a win over the Warriors and 23 in a win against the Bucks, and struggles. He has been in single digits in nine of the last 10 games. If the Wolves do not make another move, Hyland will have a clear path to bigger minutes and more opportunities to find his rhythm.
Conley’s exit does not necessarily mean that Antetokounmpo is on his way to Minnesota. But the Wolves have not given up hope that they can add to a roster that has shown it can compete with the best the West has to offer, be it with a nine-time All-NBA power forward or the kind of scorer off the bench who could help them sustain the minutes when Edwards sits.
The clock ticks on.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The Wild returns to Saint Paul tonight, taking on the Avalanche at Grand Casino Arena for the first time in the Second Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The following lineup is a projection and is subject to change:
San Antonio, despite its early success, struggled for some time to find sufficient support of Wembanyama (39 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks). Running mates Stephon Castle (13 points, 12 assists, and 4 rebounds) and De’Aaron Fox (17 points and 5 assists) started slowly, but both of them worked through the kinks when it mattered most. Devin Vassell (13 points and 6 rebounds) made just the right plays on both ends. Rookie Carter Bryant (6 points and 2 rebounds) made the most of his first half minutes to help the Spurs stay ever so slightly ahead of the Wolves. Keldon Johnson (11 points) worked through an ineffectual playoffs thus far and had a much-needed burst late in the third quarter. Dylan Harper (8 points and 4 rebounds) figured meaningfully in the closing minutes.
Minnesota’s Edwards (32 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists) led the way as expected with Jaden McDaniels (17 points and 7 rebounds) reprising his standout role from the Denver series. Former Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid (18 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists) had an excellent effort off the bench, while Ayo Dosummu (11 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists) also helped the Wolves nearly pull off the upset.
San Antonio picked up where it left off from Wednesday night showcasing its defensive clamps – Edwards’ free throw was the only Minnesota scoring as they missed their first 11 shots. Wembanyama again set up shop in the paint and scored four early ones and netted 9 of the team’s first 11 points. The Wolves stayed glued to one point until the 5:09 mark when a Gobert tip-in roused the crowd from slumber. The Spurs reached zenith at 18-3. Despite the early San Antonio advantage, both teams shot a combined 9-for-36 (25%) over the first nine minutes, which was a foreboding lurch into Minnesota’s closing run. Gobert generated surprising offense, which emboldened Edwards to seek out his offense and the Wolves closed within 22-23 after one.
Three quick Minnesota field goals threatened to cause the Target Center to ’go crazy,‘ but the Spurs’ veterans – Wembanyama and Fox – stabilized them over several tense possessions. Bryant saw first half action and hit a pair of timely threes. Despite wresting the lead back, San Antonio left plentiful points on the board with its free throw misses. The teams fought and clawed to stay within 1-2 possesions of each other until fireworks from Minnesota and San Antonio resulted in a 51 tie at the half.
The teams put up a flurry of threes during a whirlwind third period. San Antonio remained ahead by a handful after the artillery exchange. The really interesting thing was that different players accounted for each three on both sides. The Spurs pushed their lead to as high as seven until Edwards and Dosummu connected on several quick field goals. Wembanyama, while having his left arm behind held by Gobert, swatted away Edwards’ floater with his right hand, and then the Wolves star held his right side as the center tried to run upcourt to join his tammates. After the pace slowed to a veritable crawl, San Antonio still found itself up seven going to the final 12 minutes.
- This was the second game this series where Randle made hostile contact to Castle, and the Spurs guard was whistled for the foul. Tonight’s call, however, was overturned after review.
- If Gobert continues to stay long stretches on the bench, that may effectively consume any meaningful Kornet minutes.
- My friend said, “remember when Ginobili would get fouled… his hair would fly everywhere? That’s Castle” And all I could reply with was “until 2007.”
- Does the Amazon arrow change directions depending on who’s leading?
- It makes sense why the Spurs tried to sell tickets to people within 150 miles of San Antonio in Round 1. The Philadelphia / New York game very much sounded like a pro-Knicks crowd.
- My three sisters and I ended our respective eulogies for my dad with ‘Go Spurs Go.’
- Sequence of the Game #1: Several minutes in, Wembanyama swatted away Randle’s attempt, sped past other Wolves down the floor, and and converted an and-1 over McDaniels. #wemblock
- Sequence of the Game #2: After a Reid three, Fox slithered down to the other end and got a layup over three Timberwolves.
Wembanyama dunked home successive lob passes from Vassell and Castle for San Antonio’s first four points. Fox deflected a pass on the first Wolves possession. (Wembanyama’s first block looked like a goaltend but we’ll keep that between you and me.) Wembanyama’s turnaround banker made it 11-1. The only negative for the Spurs was getting into the foul bonus in less than five minutes. Johnson’s catch-and-shoot triple made it 14-1. Reid’s three caused Mitch Johnson to burn his late period timeout. Gobert’s second and third buckets kickstarted a 9-0 run late in the stanza. Vassell’s floater salvaged a series of fraught moments. Edwards went on a personal twelve point explosion to draw Minnesota within one.
Another Wembanyama lob provided momentary relief from the Wolves’ onslaught – as Edwards, Reid, and McDaniels connected early on in the second period. Bryant hit a corner three to put San Antonio ahead for mere seconds. Bryant’s next one – a shotclock beating three – put the Spurs back up four. Minnesota again drew San Antonio into the foul bonus halfway through. Right as I was muttering to myself that he was settling for too many threes, Castle’s pull-up jumper in the paint put the Spurs up six. An offensive foul on Reid – who elbowed Kornet in the face – was overturned due to the Spurs’ center holding with his left hand. San Antonio challenged an offensive foul whistled on Castle and it was unfortunately upheld. Reid’s corner three put Minnesota back up. but Castle drew Reid’s third foul shortly after. After Castle swiped it clean from Randle, Fox hit his second straight field goal, but that was matched by a McDaniels three tying the game at 51.
Dosummu replaced Mike Conley in the starting lineup, and San Antonio made some decent stops to start the second half. Threes from Castle and Wembanyama put the Spurs up six. After the Wolves bigs used Wembanyama as a punching bag, the referees finally whistled Randle for an offensive foul on an elbow extension. Vassell threw down a thunderous lefty jam seconds later. Edwards hit two baseline floaters and Dosummi followed with a corner three. Castle and Kornet ran pick and roll action to get the center a runner. Harper took a shot to the head on a loose ball situation and stayed down on the court for minutes, while Castle and McDaniels were assessed technicals. San Antonio got into the foul bonus but continued to put up ‘1-for-2s.’ Johnson paired two freebies with a wing three and the Spurs were relieved to head to the fourth up 86-79.
For the Wolves fan’s perspective, please visit Canis Hoopus.
San Antonio stays in the Twin Cities for Game 4 with Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night at 6:30 PM CDT on NBC.
Police in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, are searching for a suspect after an individual was injured in a shooting following an altercation on Friday morning.
Officers responded to the 3300 block of 76th Street around 2:45 a.m. for a report of shots fired and a person who had been hit by gunfire, according to the Inver Grove Heights Police Department. They found the 911 caller, who was struck by a bullet. They were taken to a hospital and is expected to survive, officials said.
Investigators said the suspect was trying to get into the vehicle of the caller. Both individuals shot at each other after a short verbal altercation, according to police.
The suspect, whose description has yet to be disclosed by law enforcement, left the scene on foot.
Police are asking area residents who have video of the shooting or the suspect to email the footage to them.
Anyone who sees the suspect is urged not to approach them and to call 911. According to police, they are considered armed and dangerous.
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