Spurs open Round 2 at Frost Bank

The Spurs are back in a part of the bracket San Antonio hasn’t seen in a while. Round 2 starts Monday, May 4, at Frost Bank Center, with the Spurs hosting the Timberwolves after closing out Portland in five games and grabbing their first playoff series win since 2017. Minnesota got here by knocking out Denver in six, which means the matchup is set and the home-court edge belongs to San Antonio. That’s the news. The interesting part is what kind of test this actually is. ### Why are the Spurs opening at home? Because they earned it over 82 games. San Antonio finished 62-20 and grabbed the West’s No. 2 seed, while Minnesota came in at 49-33 as the No. 6 seed. That’s why Games 1 and 2 are at Frost Bank Center on May 4 and May 6, with the series then shifting to Minneapolis for Games 3 and 4 on May 8 and May 10. If it goes long, Game 5 would be back in San Antonio on May 12. (nba.com) ### What changed for San Antonio? The obvious thing is the drought is over. The Spurs handled Portland 4-1 and finally pushed through a first-round series for the first time in nine years. That matters beyond nostalgia. A young team can look promising all winter, but the playoffs ask a different question — can you solve the same opponent four times before that opponent solves you? San Antonio just an(nba.com)cated roster. (msn.com) ### Why is Minnesota a real problem? Because the Timberwolves are lower-seeded but not lightweight. They just beat Denver in six and are chasing a third straight trip to the Western Conference finals. That’s a team with reps, not just talent. Rudy Gobert still gives them a huge defensive backbone, and the Wolves have enough size and length to make every drive and every entry pass feel crowded. San Antonio won’t be seeing a fragile underdog here. (ksat.com) ### What about Anthony Edwards? That’s one of the big variables. Edwards missed Minnesota’s Game 6 win over Denver after hurting his knee in Game 4, and his status for the Spurs series was still unclear in the latest local reporting. The catch is Minnesota showed it can survive without him for a night. Ayo Dosunmu stepped up in the playoffs, and the Wolves still have enough structure to defend and rebound even if their top scorer is limited. (ksat.com) ### How did these teams match up before? Minnesota took the season series 2-1, but the details matter more than the headline. One of those Wolves wins came in a one-point game, 104-103, and San Antonio won the most recent meeting, 126-123, on January 17 in San Antonio. Wembanyama also sat out one of the losses, which makes the regular-season sample a little noisy. Basically, these teams already played close, tense games before the stakes got this high. (ksat.com) ### So what is the real matchup? It’s size against size, but not in the old bruising-post-up way. Wembanyama changes the geometry of the floor on both ends, while Minnesota can answer with Gobert, Julius Randle, and a defense built to clog space. That makes every possession a spacing puzzle. Can San Antonio pull Minnesota’s bigs away from the rim? Can Minnesota keep Wembanyama from turning short windows into easy points and blocks? That’s the series. (nba.com) ### Why does Frost Bank matter here? Because this won’t feel like a normal second-round opener in San Antonio. The Spurs are leaning hard into the home atmosphere — playoff shirts on every seat for Games 1 and 2, plus a Game 1 pep rally at Hemisfair on Sunday. That doesn’t win possessions by itself, but for a young team, a loud building can juice the early runs that make a favorite feel like a favorite. (nba.com) ### Bottom line This series is bigger than a schedule drop. It’s San Antonio’s cleanest measure yet of whether the rebuild has moved from exciting to real. Minnesota brings playoff scar tissue, size, and enough defensive force to make the Spurs prove every bit of it. (kens5.com)