Spurs reach second round

The Spurs are back in the part of the bracket that matters. San Antonio closed out Portland in five games, then got its next opponent when Minnes(nba.com)open the Western Conference semifinals at home on Monday, May 4. For a franchise that spent the last few years living in draft-lottery reality, that is a pretty sharp turn. (nba.com) ### What actually happened? San Antonio handled the Trail Blazers 114-95 in Game 5 on(nba.com)the West. It wasn’t a survive-and-advance kind of finish. The Spurs took Game 1, dropped Game 2, then won the next three, including a 21-point win in Game 4 and a 19-point closeout in Game 5. (nba.com) ### Why is this a bigger deal than one series? Because this is the Spurs’ first playoff series win since 2017. They had already ended t(nba.com) this year, but winning a round is different. Making the playoffs says the rebuild worked enough. Winning a series says the team has become a real problem for somebody. (nba.com) ### So who’s next? Minnesota. The Timberwolves beat Denver 110-98 in Game 6 to win their first-round series (nba.com)The series starts in San Antonio because the Spurs are the higher seed, with Games 1 and 2 both at Frost Bank Center on May 4 and May 6 before the series shifts to Minneapolis. (nba.com) ### Why does home court matter here? Because this is still a young Spurs group, and young teams usually need every edge they ca(nba.com)ble Game 5, and a possible Game 7. Basically, it gives the Spurs more ways to keep control if the series gets weird — and playoff series almost always get weird. (nba.com) ### What’s the Wembanyama angle? He’s the reason the timeline sped up. Back in March, his late jumper against Phoenix clinched San Antonio’s(nba.com)bsence. That was the first checkpoint. This second one is tougher — now he’s not just the star of a promising team, he’s the centerpiece of a team trying to win four more rounds. (espn.com) ### What makes Minnesota tricky? The Wolves bring size, defe(nba.com)rds — if he’s available. Edwards has been dealing with a knee injury suffered in the Denver series, and his status for the San Antonio matchup was still unclear Friday. Even without him, Minnesota got enough from its depth to close out Denver, and Rudy Gobert is still the piece that can make the paint feel crowded all night. (ksat.com)e regular season? A little. Minnesota won two of the three meetings, though San Antonio took the latest one, 126-123, on January 17. Regular-season matchups don’t map cleanly onto playoff basketball, but they do hint at the shape of the problem — the Wolves have enough size and defensive length to make every Spurs possession feel expensive. (ksat.com)top seed, won a series 4-1, and now open Round 2 at home. The next step is harder — Minnesota is deeper and more physical than Portland — but San Antonio is finally in games that can change what this era looks like. (nba.com)