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Spurs eliminate Timberwolves to set up blockbuster Thunder showdown

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CitrixNews Staff
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Spurs eliminate Timberwolves to set up blockbuster Thunder showdown

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Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs eliminated Anthony Edwards' Minnesota Timberwolves with a dominant 139-109 win that secured a 4-2 series victory and a place in the Western Conference Finals.

Sophomore Stephon Castle led his side with 32 points and 11 rebounds on the night as the Spurs made a franchise-record 18 three pointers to send their opponents packing.

They side will now take on the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a highly-anticipated matchup that will see the top two seeds in the West go head-to-head.

De'Aaron Fox added 21 points and nine assists and rookie Dylan Harper had 15 points off the bench for the victors, while Wembanyama notched a quiet 19 points in 27 minutes.

"Of course we're confident, but we need to keep the right confidence level," Wembanyama said ahead of the much-anticipated Thunder series.

"Right now, I'm not even thinking about it. I'm just thinking about recovering."

"It shows that we already gained a little bit of experience from our short playoff time. I feel like we put ourselves in the best conditions, as simple as that."

Edwards had 24 points on 9-for-26 shooting for the Timberwolves, bringing to an end an impressive postseason that has seen the No 6 seed push one of the NBA's best teams to their limit.

"I just tip my hat to them," Edwards said. "They were just the better team."

"It just felt like we kind of ran out of bullets as this series went on," Minnesota head coach Chris Finch echoed.

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LeBron James discusses his future in the NBA after the Los Angeles Lakers' loss in the play-offs to the Oklahoma City Thunders last night LeBron James discusses his future in the NBA after the Los Angeles Lakers' loss in the play-offs to the Oklahoma City Thunders last night

The Thunder swept their first two series - including putting LeBron James' future NBA career in doubt with their second-round win - but undoubtedly face the toughest test of their playoff campaign so far when they take on San Antonio, with Game 1 kicking the series off on Monday night.

The No 1 seeded Detroit Pistons put together a dominant second-half performance to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-94 on Friday night to force a Game 7 in their Eastern Conference second-round series.

The Pistons' 21-point victory tied a 66-year-old NBA playoff record for the largest Game 6 road win by a team trailing 3-2 in a series. The St Louis Hawks beat the Minneapolis Lakers 117-96 in a the 1960 West Division finals.

Cunningham made five 3-pointers as the Pistons went 16 of 36 from beyond the arc, tied for their most this preseason. Duncan Robinson, who missed Wednesday's Game 5 with a lower back injury, had four 3-pointers and scored 14 points off the bench.

Jalen Duren had 15 points and 11 rebounds while Daniss Jenkins also scored 15 for the Pistons, who have won four games this postseason when facing elimination.

"It has been a collective effort. We needed every bit of it. Great team win," Cunningham said.

James Harden's 23 points for Cleveland - alongside Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley's 18 points - wasn't enough to stop the Cavs suffering their first home loss of the postseason.

"We never really kicked it to that second level. And we need to get to that third and fourth level. It was never just a consistent flow at either end of the floor, which is frustrating," Harden said.

The decisive game takes place live on Sky Sports on at 1am on Monday (UK time) in Detroit.

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Originally reported by Sky Sports