Game 1 of the Western Conference Semis tips at the Frost Bank Center and the Wolves are walking in held together with athletic tape. Anthony Edwards (knee) is questionable after hyperextending it on a Game 4 landing in Denver, Donte DiVincenzo is out for the playoffs after rupturing his right Achilles less than 90 seconds into that same game, and Ayo Dosunmu's calf is iffy too. Minnesota still finished off the Nuggets in six. Now the bill comes due.
- OutDonte DiVincenzo G — DiVincenzo will undergo surgery Sunday to repair a ruptured right Achilles tendon that he suffered during the Timberwolves Game 4 win over the Nuggets on Saturday.
- OutDavid Jones Garcia F — Jones Garcia underwent ankle surgery Wednesday and will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News reports.
The good news for Chris Finch: Edwards was cleared for on-court work Sunday, ahead of the original week-to-week timeline. The complicated news: even at full health, Ant has averaged 36.7 a night against San Antonio this year and the Wolves still split-ish the season series. Without him — or with a hobbled version — the math gets ugly fast. Terrence Shannon Jr. carried real water in the close-out games, but Round 2 is a different exam.
San Antonio, meanwhile, looks like a problem. The Spurs dispatched Portland in five with a +8.3 average margin and Victor Wembanyama dropped 35 in his playoff debut — the most by any Spur in a postseason debut in franchise history. That's the company of Duncan, Robinson, the Iceman. He's 21. The only Spur with a real injury cloud is rookie wing Carter Bryant (foot), questionable for Game 1, and he plays nine minutes a game.
Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson isn't letting his guys peek at the Minnesota injury report. "They guard, they're physical, they try to impose their will," he said this weekend, pointing out Minnesota won two of three regular-season meetings. That's the right tone. The Wolves' identity is defense and rebounding, not Edwards heroball, and that floor doesn't move much when guys are out — it just lowers the ceiling.
Pinnacle has San Antonio -13 with the Wolves a +483 dog and a fair-probability of about 16.5%. Thirteen is a fat number for a playoff opener — it's basically the market saying "Edwards probably plays at 70%, and even if he plays at 100% the Wolves still might not have enough." If Ant is a true game-time call and tips off, that line is a touch rich. If he's late-scratched, it's probably light.
The under (218) is the side that interests me on paper: Wolves play slow, the Spurs grind games into the half court when Wembanyama anchors the back line, and Minnesota's offense without DiVincenzo's shooting just got a lot harder to space. But Game 1s in San Antonio with a healthy crowd and a young team trying to make a statement tend to come out hot. Buckle up.