After Game 4 ejection, Wembanyama delivers dominant display in Spurs' Game 5

Victor Wembanyama didn’t just bounce back. He grabbed the whole series and bent it back toward San Antonio. Two nights after his first career ejection blew open Game 4 for Minnesota, Wembanyama came out in Game 5 looking like he had decided the argument early. The Spurs beat the Timberwolves 126-97 on Tuesday, May 12, and Wembanyama was the reason the game never really settled into a normal playoff rhythm. He finished with 27 points, 17 rebounds and three blocks, and San Antonio moved ahead 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinals. ### What changed after Game 4? Game 4 turned on chaos. Wembanyama was ejected in the second quarter for a Flagrant 2 after striking Naz Reid above the neck, and Minnesota rode that swing to a 114-109 win behind Anthony Edwards’ 36 points, including 16 in the fourth. That tied the series and put all the pressure on San Antonio to show it could respond without unraveling. (sports.yahoo.com) ### So how did Wembanyama answer? He answered fast. Wembanyama scored 18 points in the first quarter, hit 6 of his first 8 shots, and gave the Spurs an immediate edge in force and pace. That mattered because Minnesota had spent the previous game dragging San Antonio into a more emotional, more physical fight. In Game 5, Wembanyama kept the physicality but cut out the loss of control. (nba.com) ### Why did that first quarter matter so much? Because it changed the script. Instead of another tight, grindy game where Edwards could take over late, the Spurs got downhill early and made Minnesota play from behind. San Antonio piled up 68 points in the paint and shot 53% from the field, which tells you this wasn’t just a star going nuclear from outside — it was a team dictating where the game happened. (sports.yahoo.com) ### Was this just a Wembanyama game? Not really. Wembanyama set the tone, but the Spurs looked broader and cleaner around him than they did in Game 4. Keldon Johnson scored 21, De’Aaron Fox had 18, and Stephon Castle added 17. That balance is the real warning sign for Minnesota. If the Wolves sell out on Wembanyama in Game 6, San Antonio has enough creation and enough rim pressure to make that hurt. (nba.com) ### What happened to Anthony Edwards? Edwards never got the same runway. After his 36-point takeover in Game 4, he had just eight points in the first half of Game 5 and finished with 20. Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels each scored 17, but Minnesota never found the late-game pressure points because the game was basically gone before the fourth quarter could matter. (sports.yahoo.com) ### Did the ejection still hang over this game? Yes — but more as fuel than as fallout. Wembanyama said afterward that “rage-baiting” felt like part of Minnesota’s strategy, and the notable thing is that he didn’t spend Game 5 trying to settle that score physically. He settled it on the scoreboard. That’s the mature version of revenge — same edge, better use of it. (sports.yahoo.com) ### What’s the actual stakes now? San Antonio is one win from the franchise’s first Western Conference finals appearance since 2017, and the opponent waiting would be Oklahoma City. Game 6 is Friday in Minneapolis. So the series has flipped again — not because the matchup suddenly changed, but because Wembanyama showed he can absorb a playoff mistake, then come back even more punishing. (nba.com) ### Bottom line? Game 5 wasn’t just a big stat line. It was a control test. Wembanyama failed it in Game 4, then aced it in Game 5 — and now the Spurs are one composed night away from the West finals. (sports.yahoo.com)