Victor from San Antonio’s game on Tuesday night.
In a related note, the Spurs won.
San Antonio took a 3-2 lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves with a dominant 126-97 win in Game 5 of their second-round series, putting the Spurs one victory away from a Western Conference finals showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are 8-0 so far in these playoffs.
Wembanyama had 27 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the Spurs’ win.
The Timberwolves are down but not out. They’ve been a resilient bunch in these playoffs and get to host Game 6 on Friday.
Wednesday’s schedule
鈥� Game 5, Cleveland at Detroit, 8 p.m. EDT (ESPN)
Series: Tied, 2-2.
Odds: Detroit by 4.5.
Home teams are 4-0 in this series, and the Pistons need to continue that trend. Everyone knows Game 5 in a tied series is a swing game, but the Pistons 鈥� who fended off elimination three times in the Round 1 win over Orlando 鈥� are used to playing amid pressure.
Thursday’s schedule
鈥� No games scheduled.
Tuesday’s recap
鈥� . Wembanyama atoned for his Game 4 ejection.
Sad day in the NBA
The NBA had a rough day on Tuesday 鈥� mourning the death of and the death , who was the league’s first openly gay player.
Clarke, 29, was found dead Monday at a home in the Los Angeles area and emergency personnel who responded to the scene found drug paraphernalia in the home, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because those details were not released publicly.
Collins, 47, died after an eight-month battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer.
Awards watch
A breakdown of this season’s NBA awards:
鈥� : DeAndre Jordan, New Orleans.
鈥� : Moussa Diabat茅, Charlotte.
鈥� : Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio.
鈥� Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City.
鈥� Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.
鈥� Derrick White, Boston.
鈥� Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta.
鈥� Cooper Flagg, Dallas.
鈥� Brad Stevens, Boston.
Among the announcements still to come:
鈥� Most Valuable Player: Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver’s Nikola Jokic.
鈥� Coach of the Year: Johnson, Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, or Boston’s Joe Mazzulla.
Betting odds
Defending champion Oklahoma City (-165) is favored to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.
The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+300), New York (+650), Detroit (+2500), Cleveland (+5000) and Minnesota (+12500).
Key dates
鈥� Through Sunday: NBA draft combine.
鈥� May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.
鈥� May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.
鈥� June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).
鈥� June 23: Round 1, NBA draft.
鈥� June 24: Round 2, NBA draft.
Quote of the day
鈥淚 feel like we got the Vic that you鈥檝e seen all year,鈥� Spurs guard Stephon Castle said after Wembanyama’s bounce-back performance. 鈥淚 think his maturity level was off the charts. I mean, he played smart, didn鈥檛 really foul much, took the shots that were there for him.”
Stat of the day
Wembanyama (22 years, 128 days) became the third-youngest player in league history with 25 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a postseason game behind Magic Johnson (20 years, 276 days) and Luka Doncic (21 years, 177 days).
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