SAN ANTONIO -- Despite getting blown out on the road for the second time in this second-round series, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards exuded a level of unwavering confidence with his season on the brink against the 62-win San Antonio Spurs.
"I don't see nobody in our locker room that's too worried," Edwards said. "There's another basketball game. Come out, put your boots on and get ready to go to war."
The Spurs rolled to a pivotal 126-97 Game 5 win Tuesday night, outscoring the Timberwolves in all four quarters to claim a 3-2 series lead. San Antonio has won its past two home games by a combined 67 points.
Minnesota's trouble began early. The NBA opted not to suspend Victor Wembanyama after his Game 4 swinging elbow to Naz Reid's jaw, ruling that the second-quarter ejection in a subsequent Spurs loss was punishment enough.
Wembanyama, unsurprisingly, came out aggressively to atone for his series-shifting mistake. He had 16 points and five rebounds in the first seven minutes, delivering a 24-11 lead in his opening stint, dropping in a sequence of floaters and 3s from impossible-to-contest angles.
"Some of the stuff Wemby was doing you don't really have too much of an answer for," Edwards said. "You just hope he misses."
The Timberwolves clawed back a few times in the middle quarters. Jaden McDaniels hit three 3s and Edwards had 20 points. The Wolves briefly tied the game at 61 with 7:51 left in the third quarter. Then it all unraveled.
"We went away from what was working [offensively]," Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. "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 ball containment."
Finch said his scorers "started breaking off plays" after finding success earlier in the game attacking gaps and moving the ball.
Julius Randle, in particular, is having a dreadful series. He shot 6-of-17 in Game 5, bringing his series total to 26-of-71 from the field, a 36.6% clip, after making 48.1% of his shots in the regular season.
The Timberwolves also pinpointed foul trouble as a concern. McDaniels again was strapped to the bench in Game 4, as has been the case during key sequences throughout the series. He had five fouls total and was limited to 30 minutes. The Timberwolves were outscored by 17 minutes in the 18 minutes he sat.
"Everything starts with Jaden McDaniels, trying to keep him out of foul trouble," Edwards said. "He's so important to the team. It hurts everybody when he gets in foul trouble. Some tough calls being made out there against him. Not too much we can say."
Minnesota also struggled to handle San Antonio's selective double-teams, similar to the Game 2 blowout in the same building. On Tuesday night, per ESPN Research, the Spurs sprung 20 double-teams on Edwards. Against them, the Timberwolves went 6-of-15 shooting and turned it over five times, scoring 13 points on 20 possessions.
Facing that extra attention, Edwards was able to get up only 13 shots after attempting 22 and 26 in the previous two home games. Despite managing pain in both of his knees, Edwards has logged 41, 40 and 39 minutes the past three games, and he appeared fatigued at times against the Spurs' wave of athletes.
There are two days off before Game 6 in Minnesota on Friday night, the only extended gap between games in this series.
"I'm so happy," Edwards said of the break. "I'm ready to get two days. I'm excited for it."
