Victor Wembanyama Drops a Season-High 43 — Spurs Beat the Short-Handed Timberwolves 121–111

The Witcher came to play

Victor Wembanyama arrived at Frost Bank Center on Halloween dressed as Geralt of Rivia — the monster hunter from "The Witcher," white wig, cape and all, in the Halloween entrance that has become his tradition. Then he went out and played like the monster himself.

Wembanyama scored a season-high 43 points on 17-of-34 shooting, with seven rebounds, six blocks, four assists and a steal in 34 minutes, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 121–111 on Saturday night for their fourth straight victory. It was the 10th regular-season 40-point game of his career — the 11th of his career overall — and almost every phase of it came with a highlight attached. He threw the ball off the backboard to himself for a layup. He blocked a 3-point attempt at one end and raced downcourt for the two-handed dunk that carried him to 40 at the other. And when Minnesota made its last push, his 3-pointer with 2:40 left pushed the lead back to 118–107 and ended the argument.

Minnesota's answer lasted a half

The Timberwolves had every excuse to fold early. Anthony Edwards is out until December after knee surgery. Donte DiVincenzo is out after Achilles surgery. Rudy Gobert was a late scratch with back spasms, leaving rookie Joan Beringer to open the game across from Wembanyama. San Antonio led 34–28 after one and stretched it to 43–33 in the second quarter on Wembanyama's off-the-glass self-pass, followed immediately by Dylan Harper stealing the inbounds pass for a layup.

Instead, the game turned when LaMelo Ball went to the bench. Ball picked up his fourth foul and exited with 7:40 left in the first half — and Minnesota responded with a 16–0 run, Kuminga and Ayo Dosunmu scoring five apiece in the spurt, to take a 51–46 lead. The Timberwolves won the second quarter 33–26, scored 10 points off five San Antonio turnovers, and led 61–60 at halftime behind 24 first-half points from Wembanyama on one side and a committee on the other. Dosunmu finished with 27 points and nine rebounds, Jonathan Kuminga and Jaden McDaniels added 19 apiece, and for a half the Wolves' depth looked like a real answer.

Foul trouble closed the door

The second half opened 13–4 for San Antonio, and the run included the moment the game tilted for good: Ball's fifth foul. Minnesota's point guard was limited to 20 minutes all night and fouled out with 3:43 remaining, finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals — a line that shows both why the Wolves needed him on the floor and how little of him they got. Without Edwards to lean on and with Ball watching, Minnesota's offense had no second act. The Spurs won the third quarter 33–27 and the fourth 28–23, outrebounded Minnesota 49–38 for the night, and scored 60 points in the paint.

Around Wembanyama, the support was real. Harper scored 25 points with seven rebounds and six assists — a regular-season career high for the young guard. De'Aaron Fox was nearly perfect from the floor, 8-of-10 for 22 points with eight rebounds and seven assists (the ESPN box score governs here; wire prose that carried a different Fox total is not used). San Antonio shot 49 percent as a team and blocked nine shots, six of them Wembanyama's.

Previously Staff’s read: San Antonio is 4–2 and has won four straight, opening a three-game homestand with a win over a Western Conference rival it will see three more times this season. Minnesota falls to 4–3, has lost three of its last four, and goes home to host Milwaukee on Monday still counting the days until Edwards's expected late-December return. The Spurs host Utah on Monday.

The standings will sort themselves out. Halloween night in San Antonio had one clear fact: the 7-foot-4 star who walked in dressed as a monster hunter spent the next two hours hunting everything Minnesota put in front of him — shots at the rim, a rookie center, a 16–0 run, a fourth-quarter comeback — and he caught all of it.

Full box score, linescore and play-by-play: Timberwolves 111, Spurs 121 — Game Center. More: NBA · Stats Hub

Elsewhere Tonight

• Cleveland Cavaliers 136 at Milwaukee Bucks 111 — Evan Mobley 27 points, Jarrett Allen 25 and 11 rebounds; Cleveland won a rout in which Donovan Mitchell needed only 15 points in 24 minutes.
• Oklahoma City Thunder 98 at Houston Rockets 119 — Jabari Smith Jr. 30 points and nine rebounds, Marcus Smart 24 with seven 3-pointers; Houston improved to 6–1, handing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26) and the Thunder a second straight loss.
• Sacramento Kings 105 at Memphis Grizzlies 136 — Darius Acuff Jr. scored 38 with nine 3-pointers in a losing cause; Cameron Boozer (27) and Isaiah Stewart (24 on 8-of-9) led Memphis's blowout.
• Philadelphia 76ers 109 at Charlotte Hornets 104 — Tyrese Maxey 38 points carried Philadelphia in the night's closest finish; Grayson Allen scored 27 and Brandon Miller 24 for Charlotte.
• Atlanta Hawks 99 at New Orleans Pelicans 121 — Saddiq Bey 25 points and Jeremiah Fears 20 led New Orleans; no Hawk scored more than CJ McCollum's 14.
• Portland Trail Blazers 112 at Utah Jazz 90 — Deni Avdija 24 points and Damian Lillard 22 led Portland; rookie Darryn Peterson paced Utah with 16.