The Timberwolves Were Elbowed And Kicked Back Into The Series

What makes for a memorable NBA postseason? High-level basketball is necessary, as are a few Game 7s, plenty of drama, and maybe an upset or two. But a truly entertaining playoff run also requires a dose of the bizarre. The Timberwolves and Spurs fulfilled the brief during Minnesota's 114–109 victory Sunday in Game 4.

You want bizarre? How about Victor Wembanyama, never one to display much more emotion on the court than a serene intensity, briefly channeling his inner Artest and attempting to decapitate Naz Reid with a high-velocity elbow.

This happened early in the second quarter, and the length of the review process suggested that officials were searching for any way to keep one of the league's marquee stars in the game, but no replay angle of the elbow offered anything other than malicious intent. Wemby was slapped with a Flagrant 2 foul, and had to be told by teammate Harrison Barnes that the penalty meant he was ejected from the game.

During his postgame comments, Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson more or less confirmed what everyone saw: Wemby lashed out because he is tired of being bumped and bruised by opponents who see physical harassment as their best option for trying to contain his talents. "If the people that are in charge of controlling the game and protecting the physicality of the game don't do that, then at some point he's going to have to protect himself," said Johnson. "At some point it's starting to get actually disgusting, just in terms of what he tries to fight through, and be professional and mature and deal with some of that stuff. I'm glad he took matters into his own hands."

It remains to be seen if Wembanyama's elbow pays any dividends for him and the Spurs down the line, but from a neutral perspective his ejection couldn't have come at a better time. The 39 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks he put up in San Antonio's Game 3 victory communicated a feeling of inevitability, and it was starting to feel like the Spurs were going to run away with the series after dropping Game 1. Remove Wemby from Game 4 with Minnesota leading 36-34 in the second quarter, however, and suddenly everything starts to feel up for grabs.

What unfolded after Wemby's ejection was an essentially perfect playoff game. Luke Kornet came into the game and provided a decent impression of Wembanyama's defensive ability, and the Spurs guards activated the No Wemby Protocols, as they have done many times this season. Dylan Harper, who already is making a case for being San Antonio's second-most important player, was especially impressive, using his combination of strength and body control to score 24 points in 27 minutes. Even De'Aaron Fox, who has spent this series looking like an unnecessary appendage rather than a franchise guard, salvaged a bad shooting night with a few timely buckets. The Spurs were met on the other side by Anthony Edwards, who managed to score 36 points despite dealing with two creaky knees. He was good enough to keep the Wolves in the game heading into crunch time, at which point a collection of teammates, none of whom played a great overall game, found moments to make small, winning plays.

None were smaller or stranger than Ayo Dosunmu's accidental scorpion kick. With his team up five with 29 seconds left to play, Dosunmu got trapped in the back court and committed a turnover that lead to the Spurs getting two more points at the free-throw line. He got trapped in the same spot on the following possession, necessitating a timeout from Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch to set up an ATO and keep disaster at bay. That didn't really work either, as Jaden McDaniels decided to inbound the ball the length of the court to a well-covered Dosunmu, who failed to make the catch and only managed to keep the ball inbounds and retain possession because of an errant heel.

This, to me, is what playoff basketball is all about. Yes, you want ultra-competitive basketball played by some of the world's best athletes—the Spurs and Timberwolves gave us plenty of that—but sometimes it takes more than that. You don't get The Block without Draymond Green flinging his hand into LeBron James's testicles, and this series probably wouldn't be headed toward what should be an incredible Game 5 without a frustrated elbow and a lucky kick. Let's keep everyone on the floor from here on out, though.