Timberwolves eclipse Spurs in thrilling upset as Edwards returns from injury

[p]Newly crowned NBA defensive player of the year [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wembanyama-victor/jFmM1MFl/"]Wembanyama[/a] muscled his way to 12 blocks - a record in a postseason game - but it was not enough to thwart a resilient performance from the sixth-seeded [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/minnesota-timberwolves/KjBIVQcI/"]Timberwolves[/a].[/p][p]Minnesota ace [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/edwards-anthony/6u0BMZM2/"]Edwards[/a], who missed the final two games of the Wolves' first-round series win over Denver with a left knee injury, scored 18 points from the bench despite clearly being short of full fitness.[/p][p]Edwards' effort was backed by 21 points from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/randle-julius/lhl0euwn/"]Julius Randle[/a] while four other Minnesota players cracked double figures in a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/basketball/minnesota-timberwolves-KjBIVQcI/san-antonio-spurs-IwmkErSH/?mid=xOu7E1cB"]precious opening victory on the road[/a] in the best-of-seven Western Conference semi-final series.[/p][p][b]"We just want to win ball games, that's all we want to do as a group, no matter who it is, we don't care,"[/b] Edwards said.[/p][p][b]"I may not be as athletic as I usually am, but I got to be able to box out and make those small plays and win a big-time game,"[/b] he added.[/p][embed guid="633adabe-a304-495c-a64a-f5f3f8397dc4" url="https://x.com/Timberwolves/status/2051525159706591271" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/san-antonio-spurs/IwmkErSH/"]San Antonio[/a] were left reflecting on an agonising finish which saw [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/champagnie-julian/vuyUXnGn/"]Julian Champagnie[/a]'s attempted buzzer-beater to snatch victory bounce off the rim as the clock expired.[/p][p]Wembanyama's monster defensive performance also included 15 rebounds with 11 points in what turned out to be a losing effort.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/harper-dylan/E95BW6Df/"]Dylan Harper[/a] led the Spurs scoring with 18 points off the bench on a night when seven San Antonio players finished with double-digit points tallies.[/p][p]Wembanyama vowed an improvement when San Antonio attempt to level game two of the series on Wednesday.[/p][p][b]"Obviously we have to be better,"[/b] he said.[/p][embed guid="6d0e1820-2488-494b-a074-10868b23ce75" url="https://x.com/Timberwolves/status/2051527787555459336" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"We need to figure out in the next 48 hours what we can do better. And I've got no doubt that we will. I would trust us,"[/b] the Frenchman said.[/p][p][b]"It's a lot on me because obviously my game wasn't feeling good tonight and that's where the team is going to look for me,"[/b] Wembanyama added. [b]"If I had been better, if the offensive leaders of our team had been better, it would have been different."[/b][/p]