MINNEAPOLIS -- Banged-up and tired with Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on the line late, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama channeled lessons learned over the summer from Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon.
So, it seemed only natural for Wembanyama to join his mentor on the all-time list of stellar postseason performances Friday in a 115-108 win over Minnesota that gave San Antonio a 2-1 lead in the series. In addition to scoring a game-high 39 points, Wembanyama tallied 15 rebounds and 5 blocks to become the fourth player since blocks became official (1973-74) to finish a playoff game with at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks. Wembanyama joined the company of Olajuwon and Shaquille O'Neal, who accomplished the feat three times, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who did it twice.
"It's good to be [mentioned] along with the big fellas," Wembanyama said. "I had to resort to some things that Hakeem taught me in the fourth quarter."
Wembanyama scored or assisted on 18 of San Antonio's 29 fourth-quarter points, knocking down a 25-footer off an assist from Devin Vassell to give San Antonio a 109-103 lead. Just 39 seconds prior to that, Wembanyama hit four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert with a shot right out of Olajuwon's arsenal: the spinning fadeaway.
Minnesota pulled within two points with 5:40 left on a putback layup by Julius Randle, but that's as close as the Timberwolves would get.
When asked what he utilized from Olajuwon in the fourth quarter, Wembanyama said: "Many things, but especially that spin fadeaway over Rudy."
The newly added moves helped Wembanyama to break a cycle of futility in Minneapolis and produce his second career outing (including the regular season) with at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks. David Robinson (five times) and Tim Duncan (twice) are the only other Spurs to produce that statistical line in a regular-season or postseason game.
Wembanyama shot 72.2% from the floor, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and logged a steal while committing only one turnover. The Frenchman became the first player with at least 35 points and 15 rebounds on 70% shooting from the field since 2012, when LeBron James did so in the Eastern Conference finals.
"He really imposed himself on the game," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "He established himself dominating the paint and rim on both ends. When he does that, it kind of feels like everything opens up for himself and his teammates. Then, he gets some shots on the perimeter. He gets some closeouts. He gets the gravity in terms of teams trying to be physical with him. He did a good job of playing though contact and not expecting calls. [He] just met the physicality with the proper execution."
That hadn't always been the case for Wembanyama in Minneapolis over the first three years of his budding career. The 22-year old lost his previous four meetings against the Timberwolves at Target Center. In those games, he averaged 23.0 points on 41% shooting from the field and 30% from 3-point range with 9.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.8 blocks.
In fact, before the triumph in Game 3, San Antonio hadn't won at Target Center since October 2022.
"It was more like holding the ship together," Wembanyama explained. "We had a lead. We needed to be consistent rather than doing incredible or amazing things. We needed to avoid mistakes. [Those are] really situations we haven't really been in, or I haven't. But I know it's going to happen in the playoffs."
Wembanyama scored nine of the Spurs' first 11 points as San Antonio opened on a 14-1 run with Minnesota misfiring on its first 11 shots. The Spurs jumped out to an 18-3 lead, but the Timberwolves chewed that up in virtually no time as Anthony Edwards, who shot 4-of-6 in the quarter, scored 13 of his team-high 32 points.
"It's good to be [mentioned] along with the big fellas. I had to resort to some things that Hakeem taught me in the fourth quarter." Victor Wembanyama
Edwards poured in 12 points over the last 2:08 of the opening frame, hitting a 31-footer at the buzzer to end the quarter with Minnesota trailing by only one point (23-22).
"Definitely a great one to grind out, especially with the way we started that game," Spurs point guard De'Aaron Fox said. "They fought back, but we felt like we couldn't give up a lead like that and lose."
Stellar play on both ends of the floor from Wembanyama ensured that wouldn't happen. On offense, Wembanyama scored on all eight players in Minnesota's rotation. Defensively, he limited the Timberwolves to 4-of-21 on shots he contested, according to ESPN video tracking.
"I think we haven't done anything yet," Wembanyama said. "I think we showed some strength during this game, some relentlessness that we've got to prove. We've still got to prove to ourselves that we can sustain that. Sometimes it feels like being in a more hostile environment, a harder environment, forces us to step up our game and be on our criteria even more."
ESPN Research contributed to this report.