Victor Wembanyama, the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year in NBA history, made more history on Monday when he recorded 12 blocks to set the league’s all-time single-game playoff record. Despite his defensive efforts, the San Antonio Spurs lost, 104-102, to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
And according to Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, the margin would have been bigger if the officials hadn’t missed multiple goaltending calls on Wembanyama.
“He had a lot of blocks, he had a couple of uncalled goaltendings, too. Those are valuable points we’d like to have back,” Finch said postgame.
On Tuesday afternoon, Finch met with the media again and doubled down.
“When we looked at them, at least four of them were goaltending. Maybe even a fifth. To me, it’s a little alarming that none of them were called,” Finch said. “Here’s a generational shot-blocker who’s 7-foot-6 [actually 7-4] who goes after everything, and there’s no heightened awareness that these blocks could be goaltends. The third possession of the game was a goaltend, and it was a clean, obvious one. Let’s just say there were four, that’s eight points. Do you know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It’s massive. That’s also 33% of his blocks were goaltending, uncalled. If I were to give you a 33% raise, you’d like that, right? That’s a huge number.”
Timberwolves center and fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert agreed. “If you look at them, there are probably three or four [goaltends],” Gobert said. “I wish I had that type of treatment too.”
The third possession of the game, which Finch mentioned, was an obvious goaltend. Terrence Shannon Jr. went to the rim on the fast break and got the ball up on the glass before Wembanyama swatted it away. Even Wembanyama seemed to know that it was a violation, because he paused briefly and put his arms out before running back the other way when no whistle came.
NBA playoff winners and losers: Victor Wembanyama sets record, but offense eludes him, Jalen Brunson dominates
Sam Quinn
There was also a clear missed foul on Gobert a few possessions later, and another missed goaltend in the second quarter when Julius Randle got the ball on the backboard before Wembanyama brushed it aside. Here’s a look at some of those moments. (The caption on the video is exaggerated.)
Wembanyama has led the league in blocks in each of his first three seasons and has never averaged fewer than 3.1 for an entire campaign. His length, athleticism and timing allow him to make plays that no one else in the league can make, and it’s understandable that he gets the benefit of the doubt at times on 50-50 calls.
However, plays like the first example with Shannon cannot be missed, especially in the playoffs.
The good news for the Timberwolves is despite their understandable frustration with the officials and their injury concerns — Anthony Edwards came off the bench and only played 25 minutes due to a knee injury, while Donte DiVincenzo (Achilles) and Ayo Dosunmu (calf) were both out — they took Game 1 on the road to steal home-court advantage and are only three wins away from their third consecutive Western Conference finals appearance.
