An inability to grab a pair of rebounds in the final moments of San Antonio’s Christmas Day game resulted in the Spurs losing by three points to the New York Knicks.

That same inability played a big role in the Spurs’ 112-110  loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night in Minneapolis.

The Timberwolves out-rebounded San Antonio 56-41 and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds (San Antonio had just eight). Rudy Gobert had a game-high 15 rebounds for Minnesota and his teammate Jaden McDaniels had 10. Victor Wembanyama led the Spurs with eight rebounds.

However, it’s not just that Minnesota had more rebounds in the game. It’s also when those rebounds came. One of the most crucial rebounds for the Timberwolves came with 15 seconds left to play.

With the Spurs trailing 111-109, Wembanyama was fouled and made the first of his two free throws. But he missed the second and the rebound was grabbed by Minnesota’s Donte DiVincenzo (who was subsequently fouled and made one of his two free throws to account for the final score).

A similar ending occurred against the Knicks on Christmas when New York’s Josh Hart grabbed two offensive rebounds in the final 17 seconds of that 117-114 contest.

READ MORE: Spurs Star Victor Wembanyama Surprises New York Locals with Chess Match

Two games ending in similar fashions isn’t a lot, but is interesting it’s happened twice. San Antonio ranks 11th in the league in rebounds per game (44.7 per game) which is well ahead of the Timberwolves (42.7, sixth-worst in the NBA).

The Spurs also have a center that can block shots without jumping. Wembanyama is no slouch in grabbing rebounds. He’s averaged 10.3 per game in December and had 18 against the Knicks, but Sunday’s night performance was good enough.

Jeremy Sochan is second on the Spurs with 8.7 rebounds per game, but had just four Sunday night (as well as only five points). Devin Vassell had seven rebounds and both Harrison Barnes and Chris Paul had five.

The Spurs (16-16) will have a couple days to figure out what went wrong Sunday. San Antonio won’t be back in action until Tuesday when the Los Angels Clippers (18-13) come to town.

Spurs’ Late Rally Falls Short Against Timberwolves

Are Spurs in Stronger Position for De’Aaron Fox After Kings Shake-Up?

Victor Wembanyama Surprises New York Locals with Chess Match

The game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs Sunday night in Minneapolis has been delayed over an hour due to an issue with the Target Center court, the NBA announced on social media Sunday afternoon.

The originally scheduled 7 p.m. CT tipoff has now been rescheduled for 8:10 p.m.

With the delay, doors at Target Center will now open at 5:10 p.m., according to the Timberwolves.

According to the Star Tribune’s Chris Hine, the team’s “City Edition” court was planned for the game, but instead it will be replaced with the standard home court. An issue was discovered with the other court during the Spurs’ shootaround.

There was recently a delay at Target Center on Dec. 21 when a faulty rim had to be replaced ahead of Minnesota’s game against the Golden State Warriors. The game started over 30 minutes late after workers had replaced the rim.

The Timberwolves and Spurs have met twice previously this season — the Spurs beat the Wolves 113-103 on Nov. 2 in San Antonio and Minnesota beat the Spurs 106-92 in San Antonio on Dec. 15. This will be the first time the two teams have met in Minneapolis this season. The Wolves are currently 16-14, while the San Antonio has a 16-15 record this year.