Wolves Routed by Spurs 108-83

That's what being outclassed looks like.

One of the best teams in the league came into Target Center, forced the Wolves into playing their way, and dominated.

Of particular note tonight was the Spurs defense, especially in the paint. The Wolves wound up with only 24 paint points tonight (outscored 54-24), but that doesn't do justice to just how good the Spurs were at protecting the rim, as 12 of those points for the Wolves came in the 4th quarter when the game was already decided. They had 12 points in the paint through three quarters, which is truly difficult to believe, but that's how good the Spurs were at protecting the rim.

Especially bothered was Andrew Wiggins, who had a disastrous game, going 2-11 from the floor and getting blocked at least five times. His attacks of the basket were turned aside time and again by the interior defenders of the Spurs, who finished with nine blocked shots as a team, led by Tim Duncan's four.

The Spurs also did a good job of taking away much of what Karl-Anthony Towns likes to do inside, and forced him into a primarily perimeter game where he struggled to 4-12 shooting night. This is what the Spurs do.

Meanwhile offensively, the Spurs as usual moved the ball and found the open man instead of asking one player to dominate. They had six players in double figures, led by Kawhi Leonard's 19. As a team, the Spurs shot 41% from three, (10-24), and over 53% overall. They got 96 of there 108 points from threes, free throws, and paint shots.

It didn't help the Wolves that they were outrebounded badly in this game. 14 offensive rebounds for a hot shooting Spurs team is not good. The poor rebounding of the Wolves wings was quite apparent tonight. Their four main wing guys on the evening (Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Shabazz Muhammad, and Tayshaun Prince) combined for 3 defensive boards in 96 minutes of total playing time.

Finally, Tyus Jones got his first significant playing time for the Wolves tonight. (A rough night for it).  He came in with Zach LaVine in the first quarter to form the second unit back court, and he acquitted himself reasonably over 20 total minutes. He was better in the first half, when he penetrated effectively and scored all six of his points on 3 for 5 from the field; in the second Tony Parker recognized the mismatch and took him to school a little bit. Still, it was good to see Jones get in a game upon his return from the D-League.

Ultimately, the Spurs are just in a different class than the Wolves, and it showed all night.

The Wolves have a long way to go.