Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33, sixth in the Western Conference) vs. San Antonio Spurs (62-20, second in the Western Conference)San Antonio; Monday, 9:30 p.m. EDTLINE: Spurs -13.5; over/under is 216.5WESTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: Spurs host first series matchupBOTTOM LINE: The San Antonio Spurs host the Minnesota Timberwolves to start the Western Conference second round. Minnesota went 2-1 against San Antonio during the regular season. The Spurs won the last regular season matchup 126-123 on Sunday, Jan. 18 led by 39 points from Victor Wembanyama, while Anthony Edwards scored 55 points for the Timberwolves.The Spurs are 36-16 in Western Conference games. San Antonio ranks seventh in the Western Conference with 11.4 offensive rebounds per game led by Luke Kornet averaging 3.4.The Timberwolves are 31-21 in Western Conference play. Minnesota is 6-4 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.The Spurs make 48.3% of their shots from the field this season, which is 2.1 percentage points higher than the Timberwolves have allowed to their opponents (46.2%). The Timberwolves average 13.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.8 more makes per game than the Spurs give up.TOP PERFORMERS: Stephon Castle is scoring 16.6 points per game and averaging 5.3 rebounds for the Spurs. De’Aaron Fox is averaging 19.5 points and 3.6 rebounds over the last 10 games.Popular ReadsRudy Gobert is averaging 10.9 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks for the Timberwolves. Ayo …
