Fresh off making history as the NBA’s first ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year, French phenom Victor Wembanyama delivered a dominant performance to power the second-seeded Western Conference San Antonio Spurs to a lopsided 38-point victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, squaring their Western Conference Semifinals series at one game apiece. Just days after dropping Game 1 on their home court, the Spurs bounced back in emphatic fashion on Wednesday, outmuscling the Timberwolves to a 133-95 win that marked San Antonio’s highest single-game score in any NBA playoff matchup since 1983. By halftime, San Antonio had already built an insurmountable 59-35 lead – the lowest first-half point total Minnesota has allowed all season. Wembanyama, the 2023-24 breakout star, turned in a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds to anchor the blowout win, capping off another impressive showing that extends the Spurs’ remarkable run: the franchise has not dropped back-to-back games since mid-January, a 49-game stretch of consistent results that has positioned them as one of the league’s most dangerous playoff contenders. Speaking to reporters after the game, Wembanyama said he expected the sharp turnaround from both himself and his teammates, calling the response unsurprising. “There is some ego. They assaulted us in game one, we wanted to assault them in game two,” the French international added of the team’s motivating mindset. Across the country in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the third-seeded New York Knicks held off a frantic back-and-forth battle to clinch a narrow 108-102 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers, taking a 2-0 series lead ahead of the matchup’s shift to Philadelphia for Game 3 this Friday. The 76ers were dealt a major blow hours before tipoff, when reigning MVP Joel Embiid was ruled inactive due to a combination of right hip soreness and a sprained right ankle. Without their star center, Philadelphia still pushed the Knicks to the final buzzer, in a game that saw 25 lead changes – the most lead swings in any NBA playoff game in the last 11 years. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson led the late charge for New York, scoring eight of his total 26 points in the fourth quarter to help the home side pull away in the final minutes. Forward Karl-Anthony Towns supported Brunson’s effort with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. For the short-handed 76ers, guard Tyrese Maxey stepped up to score a team-high 26 points, and the franchise remains hopeful Embiid will recover enough to suit up for Game 3 on Philadelphia’s home court.