SAN ANTONIO – Two days shy of a full year after an atrocious shooting performance by the San Antonio Spurs tainted Tony Parker’s Hall of Fame night, they almost did it again.

There was no guest of honor in the house this time, and according to the scoreboard, the game was much closer than a 36-point loss to the New Orleans Pelicans while also giving up 146 points on 3-point shooting better than 50 percent.

But the shooting numbers were quite comparable. And even worse from the depths.

“It’s called ‘ass screaming,'” Gregg Popovich said that night. “They had a great night shoot, (and) we couldn’t throw it in the ocean…we had a good time.”

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This time the margin was smaller. The Spurs fell behind Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-92 at home, snapping their two-game winning streak, but shot just over 40 percent from the field and 11 of 45 from 3.

San Antonio might have missed the ocean Sunday night if it had tried, but this time the main critic wasn’t quite as harsh.

“We missed a lot of shots. “Give them a lot of credit. They are a damn good defensive team. We didn’t help ourselves.”

Victor Wembanyama and Harrison Barnes led San Antonio, combining for 37 points and five of the team’s three-point total. Wembanyama added 12 rebounds and seven blocks to secure his double-double, while Jeremy Sochan followed with 17 points and 15 rebounds of his own.

Stephon Castle made it back into the lineup but struggled greatly in his return, finishing the night with just two points while Devin Vassell joined him with just four.

On the other hand, Minnesota was led by Anthony Edwards with 26 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker with 17 and Jaden McDaniels with 12 points. Rudy Gobert struggled most of the evening but managed to score 10 points and nine rebounds in the Timberwolves’ winning effort.

San Antonio trailed by 15 points at halftime, shooting just 34 percent from the field and 3 of 21 from 3, but managed to get back to single digits after a third-quarter run led by Julian Champagnie. energized Frost Bank Center.

Champagnie finished the night with 11 points, but unfortunately for the fans in attendance, the Spurs’ comeback bid didn’t last.

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The Timberwolves pulled away midway through the fourth quarter, extending their lead back to 14 points with six minutes to play, and from then on, any offensive effort from the Spurs was too little, too late.

With the loss, San Antonio ends its two-game winning streak and drops to .500 with a record of 13-13. Meanwhile, Minnesota improves to 14-11 and remains the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.

Next up for the Spurs is another home game against Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday, December 19th. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. CST.

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