Published On 16 May 202616 May 2026The San Antonio Spurs have booked their ticket to the NBA Western Conference Finals with an emphatic 139-109 win over the Timberwolves, while the resilient Detroit Pistons stayed alive in the East by defeating Cleveland.The Spurs arrived in Minnesota on Friday with a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven semifinals, and led throughout a victory that sets up a tantalising showdown series with the reigning champions and top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listIt is the first time a revitalised San Antonio has reached the conference finals since 2017. While the Thunder are heavy favourites for another championship, the dangerous Spurs enjoyed a 4-1 record against Oklahoma City in the regular season.Stephon Castle led Friday’s wire-to-wire win with 32 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 11-of-16 from the field, ably backed up by De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama, who added 21 and 19 apiece.The win was vindication for French superstar Wembanyama, who was ejected from game four for smashing an elbow into the throat of Minnesota’s Naz Reid, and was predictably targeted by the Timberwolves for the rest of the series.“I knew, obviously, what they were going to do … I felt like if I gave in to the physicality and the dirtiness, that would have helped them,” said Wembanyama.“I knew I couldn’t go over the edge again. So, you know, I had to beat them by playing basketball.” Stephon Castle dunks the ball against Jaden McDaniels [David Berding/Getty Images via AFP]The Spurs got off to a fantastic start, tearing ahead in the first quarter, dominant in the paint and led by a rampant Ca …
