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The ruler Victor Wembanyama gave the San Antonio Spurs a 115-108 win in Minnesota and a 2-1 lead in their NBA series, while the red-hot New York Knicks beat Philadelphia again for a 3-0 advantage.
Throughout the night on Friday, the Frenchman defeated the Timberwolves and dominated the fourth quarter, scoring 16 points.
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The 7-foot-4 player, playing in his first NBA postseason, finished the night in Minneapolis with a total of 39 points, including 15 rebounds and five blocks.
“I was arrested for this, I love this more than anything else,” Wembanyama said.
He added: “We have the talent. We have the depth. We don’t have the experience, but we don’t care… We can go to the top if we play consistently tonight.”
Minnesota was boosted by the return of their talisman, Anthony Edwards, to the starting lineup.
Edwards shined in the Timberwolves’ win but, recovering from a knee injury, managed just 12 points off the bench in a two-game hitting streak.
He immediately returned to inspired form, playing competitive but patient football to finish with 32 points, 14 rebounds and six assists – but in the end it wasn’t enough.
The Timberwolves got off to a rough start, missing their first 12 attempts.
Wembanyama shined defensively, with two big blocks to start, forcing Minnesota to score from outside the paint.
The Timberwolves battled back, and the game was tied 51-51 at halftime.
Superstars Edwards and Wembanyama led the scoring in the first half, managing 19 and 16 apiece, while the rest combined to shoot less than 30 percent from the field.
After halftime, the game turned furious. While Jaden McDaniels and Dylan Harper were fighting for the ball, Harper’s falling head collided with McDaniels’ knee.
Moments later, McDaniels and Stephon Castle shoved each other, drawing several players from both sides into confusion.
But Wembanyama kept it strong and finished strongly, scoring two long three points to win.
“Greatness,” said teammate De’Aaron Fox, of Wembanyama’s performance.
“Teams come here and try to be with him. He fights it, he doesn’t worry, he knows what he can handle,” he added.
“They come out here and they give birth.”
The Knicks went up 3-0
Jalen Brunson also starred as the Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers 108-94 to win the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
It was the sixth straight victory for the Knicks, who have not lost a game since 2-1 in their opener against Atlanta.
After hitting New York in a tough second round, Brunson looked calm as he poured in 33 points and added nine assists.
They were aided by muscular defensive performances, including a combined 23 points from Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart, to put the Knicks up 3-0 in the best-of-seven series.
No team has ever come back from 3-0 down in a seven-game NBA series.
Playing in front of a raucous home crowd for the first time in the series, the Sixers came out of the event strong.
Philadelphia’s Paul George had 15 points in the first quarter alone, as his team blew a 12-point lead against a Knicks team missing the injured OG Anunoby.
But the Knicks immediately fought back, tying boldly and making 33 points while shooting at 57 percent in the second quarter in a stellar, to take the lead at halftime.
Cities and back Joel Embiid They were locked in a boxing ring, and each player committed three fouls before the break, which at times resembled a wrestling match.
The Sixers briefly closed the gap to two points late in the third quarter, before missing six straight shots, including several foul airballs.
With the help of another late show by the talisman Brunson, the Knicks appeared in the final, and the Sixers lost hope.
The third-seeded Knicks will look to sweep the seventh-round series when the teams meet again in Game 4 on Sunday in Philadelphia.
“All you can do is try to find the next one and see what happens.” Sixers coach Nick Nurse said. “If you can get one, it becomes 3-1 very quickly and you don’t even have to think it’s 3-0.”
Embiid said his team can’t “back down” as they face a tough task.
“You know, (after coming back from 3-1 to beat the Celtics), this is tough. Just going in and understanding we can’t come back in one game,” he said.
“One win, another look, another win, that’s got to be the mentality. That’s the mentality we had last week.”
