Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has long been a connoisseur of basketball players he refers to as “skilled bigs,” who have the stature of leviathans yet are uncommonly imbued with virtues more in sync with their smaller brethren, such as finesse, quickness and coordination.
Finch caught the bug when he was an assistant coach for the New Orleans Pelicans for three seasons nearly a decade ago and was charged with developing an offense around a pair of idiosyncratic but extremely skilled bigs in DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis. His appreciation for the versatility of such contemporary big men on the modern NBA was valuable when the Wolves shifted Karl-Anthony Towns from center to power forward after Minnesota traded for Rudy Gobert, in his development and usage of Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels, and, most notoriously, in his loyal implementation of Julius Randle, with whom he developed a bond in their one year together in New Orleans.
Ironically, Finch and the Wolves were dismantled for the second time within a week Tuesday night by the 22nd Century prototype of a skilled big, Victor Wembanyama, propelling his San Antonio Spurs to a 3-2 lead in their second-round best-of-seven series in the Western Conference playoffs. To further the irony, Wemby is greatly enabled by a contingent of Spurs who might be referred to as “brutish littles,” players shorter than classic frontcourt players in the NBA, but who thrive on the feisty physicality and scrappy attitude that allows them to defend larger opponents and joust near the basket at both ends of the court.
In a game marked by scoring runs from both teams, Wemby and the Spurs opened and closed with a vengeance. After being ejected for delivering a vicious elbow to the neck of Naz in the second quarter of Game Four Sunday night, Wemby dominated the first six minutes of Game Five. He began the onslaught with a tip-in, added a corner three-pointer, got the hometown crowd out of their seats with a slam dunk off a drive that started beyond the three-point arc, made Gobert look silly first by banging off of him for a floater, and then spinning around him for a nifty finish with his left hand. Another three-pointer gave him 16 points (along with five rebounds) and boosted the Spurs to a 24-9 lead.
But the Wolves stormed back with a 17-4 run of their own, boosted by space-and-pace ball movement from Mike Conley, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Naz off the bench. After not generating a three-pointer nor an assist in the first six minutes, Minnesota hit six straight shots, five of them assisted and half of them treys. Conley had two dimes and two long-balls, Shannon punctuated his remarkable renaissance on defense by absorbing his fifth charge in the series and doled out two assists, and Ant was freed by the pace – and the fact that Wemby was resting on the bench – to score five points.
Another sterling Wolves run erased the Spurs 12-point halftime lead within the first 4:09 of the third quarter. This time the keys were the energy of Ayo Dosumnu, the steady glue of Jaden McDaniels, continued ball movement, an active, opportunistic pressure defense, and solid minutes from Gobert and Randle at the same time.
But after that 14-2 burst made it 61-61, the Spurs put the hammer down with a daunting superiority at both ends of the court.
The hinge point was McDaniels being whistled for his fourth foul trying to follow up his missed floater with the Spurs ahead 64-61 and 6:47 remaining in the third period. After that, the Wolves fell apart.
“We went away from what was working (on offense),” Finch lamented after the game. “And then our defense just cratered. We gave up 30 points I think in the last six minutes of the third quarter. A lot of it was just ball-contain stuff. We found some things that were working (on offense) and then we just started breaking off plays. That’s my job. I have to get us back on track. That’s on me.”
Related: An angry elbow, the return of SuperAnt, and Finch’s secret weapon lineup: How the Wolves tied the series with the Spurs in Game Four
In their two runs in the middle of the first quarter and the beginning of the second half, nine of the 11 Timberwolves baskets were assisted. Aside from that, only eight of their remaining 21 field goal conversions were meaningfully facilitated by a pass.
What was significant about the third-quarter collapse was that the Spurs version of “skilled bigs” was so superior to the Wolves’ version. More playing time for Wemby was certainly one reason for this, compared to Game Four, but that 27-12 burst by San Antonio to close the third period on Tuesday featured nearly as much burn for backup center Luke Kornet as it did for Wemby.
The “brutish littles” were a huge factor in what became a 126-97 rout in Game Five. After McDaniels’ fourth foul, the Wolves were outmuscled en route to a 65-36 advantage after that 61-61 tie. San Antonio attempted just one three-pointer—and missed it–during that 27-12 beatdown. But they were 10-for-14 from two-point range and 7-for-7 from the foul line. They grabbed three offensive rebounds while the Wolves were managing just one defensive rebound. On offense, the Wolves were also 0-1 from deep but just 3-for-10 inside the arc.
Twenty of those 27 Spurs points belonged to Keldon Johnson (8), Stephon Castle (6) and Dylan Harper (6). Johnson is the largest of the trio at 6-feet, 6-inches and 220 pounds. Castle is 6-6, 215 and Harper is 6-5, 215. During this series, Castle has been the primary matchup on Randle, who is three inches taller and outweighs him by 35 pounds. Castle has decisively outplayed him.
Johnson, recently voted Sixth Man of the Year this season, broke out of his series-long slump playing straight-up bully ball. He literally banged bodies and then used the separation from that collision to score on Naz, Shannon and Ant, along with a slam-dunk putback and a tip-in. Overall, he was 7-for-8 on shots within six feet of the hoop and 1-for-3 from three-point range.
Castle missed his lone three-point attempt and missed a 14-foot jumper for his first shot of the game. Otherwise he made 7-of-8 shots within five feet of the basket and one pullup jumper from eight feet out. He bullied Shannon, played stop-and-go bumper cars with McDaniels, and muscled his way past Ayo.
The rookie Harper was merely 5-for-10 from the field, but that included two putbacks and a driving dunk. He also grabbed 5 offensive rebounds (and 10 overall) in just 25:16 of action.
Throw in Wemby’s command of play around the basket and you get a whopping 68-36 advantage on points in the paint for the Spurs.
Consequently, the Wolves now must win two straight games against this young, feisty squad to extend their season. And Finch is going to have to figure out how to better lean into the skill of his bigs or get littler.
The minimal impact Gobert had on this game was sobering. His skills are pretty much limited to his height and his heart, the latter of which should never be underestimated. He is a phenomenally dedicated player whose defense on multiple MVP Nikola Jokic against Denver is the primary reason the Wolves are in the second round. But he is exposed when he and his teammates don’t adhere to the game plan – when his teammates make game-plan mistakes, Rudy’s desire to cover for them either dramatically helps, or, more often, exacerbates the issue.
Then there is Randle, whose miserable series extended to a fourth straight game after his solid performance in Game One. In those four games, three of them Wolves losses, he is shooting 35.3% from the field and 15.4% (2-for-13) from three-point range. He has six assists and 13 turnovers.
Whenever Finch hears a question implying that Randle’s play is hurting the team, he bristles and tersely defends him. The loyalty that player and coach have for each other has been more successfully justified than most people – and certainly all of their critics – could have imagined. But that dynamic is running out of time, in conjunction with the Wolves third straight bid for a spot in the Western Conference Finals.
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