Wembanyama scores 43 and blocks six as Spurs see off battling Wolves

The Frost Bank Center got its Halloween show. Victor Wembanyama finished the night with 43 points, seven rebounds, four assists and six blocks, and San Antonio made it four wins in a row after opening the season with two defeats. Dylan Harper added 25 points and De'Aaron Fox 22, along with eight rebounds and seven assists.

Minnesota were playing the second game of a back-to-back, without Anthony Edwards, who has had knee surgery, and Rudy Gobert, who is troubled by a back problem. The Wolves still stayed in the game until the middle of the fourth quarter, driven by 27 points from Ayo Dosunmu.

Eleven early points, then a 16–0 run conceded

Wembanyama scored eight of the Spurs' first eleven points: a mid-range jumper, a dunk off a pass from Stephon Castle, then an alley-oop from Harper, making it 11–2 after four minutes. Minnesota answered with a 9–0 run capped by a Dosunmu dunk, levelling at 11–11, before three-pointers from Julian Champagnie and from Carter Bryant, twice, gave the Texans some breathing space. End of the first quarter: 34–28.

The second quarter turned on its head for the first time. With San Antonio up 43–33 after a Wembanyama dunk and a Harper lay-up, the Wolves hit the hosts with a 16–0 run in a little over five minutes: Jaden McDaniels, Jonathan Kuminga and Dosunmu took turns scoring in the paint, in a quarter in which the Spurs lost five turnovers. At 51–46, Minnesota led for the first time. Two three-pointers from Wembanyama in the final minute, one of them ten seconds from the buzzer, brought San Antonio back to 61–60 at half-time, with the Frenchman already on 24 points.

The 13–4 start to the second half

The return from the locker rooms changed everything. San Antonio opened the third quarter with a 13–4 run: two Wembanyama alley-oops, a Fox drive, then a Harper fast-break dunk, making it 73–65 at 7:54. LaMelo Ball, already carrying four fouls before the break, picked up his fifth during that sequence and had no further impact. Minnesota got back to 76–78 on a Dosunmu lay-up, but Harper scored ten points in the quarter to hold the gap, and Fox closed the period with a step-back jumper two seconds from the end: 93–88.

Minnesota cut it to four

An 8–0 run on the restart, a Harper three-pointer, a Wembanyama dunk, a basket plus free throw from Devin Vassell, made it 101–88. The Wolves then replied with a 13–4 run, straddling Wembanyama's two minutes of rest, with a dunk from Joan Beringer and a McDaniels alley-oop, to close to 101–105 at 6:49.

Wembanyama came back on and settled the matter. He blocked Kuminga's three-point attempt, then raced the length of the floor to dunk with two hands and reach 40 points. Another block on Beringer, a Fox lay-up, and a last three-pointer at 2:40 stretched the lead to eleven, 118–107. Ball had by then picked up his sixth foul, charging into a defender at 3:43 from time.

Players of the match

Wembanyama took 34 shots, a career high, and made 17, going 3 of 8 from deep and 6 of 9 from the free-throw line. He finished with 43 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 blocks and 3 turnovers in 34 minutes. It is the tenth time he has reached 40 points in the regular season, behind the 50 he scored against Washington in November 2024.

Harper made 9 of his 17 shots for 25 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Fox was efficient: 8 of 10 from the field, 22 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, but 4 turnovers. Castle, who started despite a migraine reported before the game, finished 0 of 4 with three turnovers.

For Minnesota, Dosunmu, born in Chicago to a Nigerian-born father, was the most consistent: 27 points on 11 of 17 shooting, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. Kuminga, the Congolese forward born in Goma, finished with 19 points, but on 8 of 19 shooting, and it was he who ran into Wembanyama's arms twice in the fourth quarter before answering with a dunk with two minutes left. McDaniels added 19 points, and Beringer 12 points and 6 rebounds, starting against his compatriot. Ball had a difficult night: 10 points on 2 of 10 shooting, 5 turnovers, 20 minutes.

Three takeaways

The Spurs win without their offence flowing. 43 makes on 87 shots, 16 turnovers, a 16–0 run conceded: San Antonio did not dominate the game from start to finish. They won it through their supporting cast, 47 points from the Fox–Harper pairing, and through the 49 rebounds they grabbed, eleven more than their opponents.

The pick-and-roll with Wembanyama as finisher made the difference. Six of his baskets came from alley-oops or dunks set up by Castle and Harper, and Fox gave him two lay-ups. Facing a 19-year-old Beringer and without Gobert, the Wolves found no answer near the rim: 60 points in the paint for the Texans.

A depleted Minnesota are still a serious team. Leading at half-time in San Antonio without their two best players, closing to four points with six minutes left, and ending up at 4 wins and 3 defeats: the Wolves showed depth, but their shooting from deep, 9 of 33, limits what they can hope for without Edwards.

The SNA view

The question this game raises is not about Wembanyama's talent, which is beyond debate. It is about the two minutes when he sits: the Spurs conceded a 13–4 run around his fourth-quarter rest, just as they had conceded 16–0 when the game lost its shape in the second. A title contender cannot depend so heavily on a single player, even this one. Mitch Johnson's project is the bench. At the other end, Kuminga confirms that he remains an instinctive scorer rather than a reliable finisher, 8 of 19 tonight, and that is precisely what Minnesota need from him while Edwards is out.

What's next

San Antonio are 4 wins and 2 defeats and host Utah on the night of Monday to Tuesday, at 2:30 Brazzaville time, then Dallas on the night of Wednesday to Thursday. Minnesota, 4–3, welcome Milwaukee the same night, then travel to Houston.