Keldon Johnson poured in a season-high 25 points off the bench and Jeremy Sochan and Chris Paul amassed double-doubles as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves 113-103 on Saturday evening.
The game was the second of a home-road back to back for the Timberwolves, who didn’t arrive in the Alamo City until 4:45 a.m. on Saturday.
San Antonio led by five points at halftime and by 13 after three quarters and never let the Timberwolves back in the game in the fourth period. Minnesota pulled its starters with 3:08 to play and down by 14 points, and the Spurs cruised to the finish, capturing their second straight win and third in their past four games.
Sochan added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs, with Victor Wembanyama hitting for 17 points, Chris Paul racking up 15 points and 13 assists and Harrison Barnes hitting for 14 points.
Julius Randle and Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 21 points each while Donte DiVincenzo had 14, Naz Reid scored 11 points and Rudy Gobert added 10 points.
The Timberwolves built a seven-point lead when Reid canned a 3-pointer at the 2:35 mark of the first period. San Antonio swung back, tying the game at 32 by the quarter’s end as Johnson poured in a 3-pointer as the stanza’s final points.
Minnesota again built its advantage to seven points on Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s jumper with 6:53 to play in the second period. The Spurs answered, running off 10 straight points capped by Paul’s 3-pointer and carried a 62-57 lead to the break.
Johnson led all scorers with 15 points before halftime while Paul had a dozen, Wembanyama tallied 11 and Sochan tossed in 10 for the Spurs, who shot a season-best 58.5 percent from the floor in the first half.
Randle paced Minnesota with 11 points over the first two quarters, with Edwards and Reid scoring 10 each.
San Antonio took charge in the third quarter, forging a 20-6 run over the first five and a half minutes to go up by 19 points. The Timberwolves rallied, culling the margin to 88-78 when Randle tossed in a finger roll with 2:03 to play in the period. San Antonio led 95-82 heading to the final quarter.
