MINNEAPOLIS — Victor Wembanyama is listed at 7 feet 4 inches tall. Everyone knows that is a lie.
One need only look at how the hulking, 6-9, 255-pound Julius Randle has to crane his neck to size up the San Antonio Spurs superstar to question the reality in which we are living. How can someone that tall move like that? What do you do with a player who has an 8-foot wingspan and can jump up and kick a bushel of basketballs hanging in a basketball hoop?
“He’s 7-5,” Randle said, confidently. “So all you can do is pray. Try to get a good contest and pray. So I’m not about to sit here and block your shots. I was trying to play solid defense, be physical and try to play without fouling.”
There wasn’t any divine intervention in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 104-103 victory over the Spurs at Target Center on Sunday night. Just muscle and sweat and leverage. Just grit and determination and want-to.
Wembanyama and the Spurs had their way with the Wolves through the first three quarters, leading 16-0 to start the game and 85-71 going into the fourth. Then the Alien got bullied.
Rudy Gobert picked up a technical foul and his fifth flagrant foul of the season — which will result in a one-game suspension against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday — for a reckless closeout on a 3 by Wembanyama. Four consecutive free throws by Wembanyama put the Spurs up 10 with 7:24 to go.
That’s when Wolves assistant coach Micah Nori, who was filling in for an ill Chris Finch, turned to an unlikely defensive stopper. He sat Gobert and put Randle on Wembanyama. This season, when Gobert sits and Randle shares the frontcourt with Naz Reid, the Timberwolves have a defensive rating of 122.4, per Cleaning The Glass. It’s been one of the team’s biggest issues all year long.
But the Wolves have seen Randle respond when he is facing a big mountain to climb, and there are none bigger than Mt. Wemby. On the first possession after he entered the game, Randle made his presence felt. His pressure sent Wembanyama tumbling into the Wolves bench for a turnover, drawing a roar from the sellout crowd.
LOCK UP JU. 🔒🔒🔒
VOTE JU » https://t.co/kbFUqGCeu2 pic.twitter.com/U3gy5fUGA0
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) January 12, 2026
There was more where that came from. With two minutes to play and the Wolves up two, Randle got a great contest on a jumper from Wembanyama, and he did it again on the final possession of the game, using his body to push Wemby off his spot and make him work hard for a look at the basket.
“It was incredible. It was incredible,” Gobert said, repeating himself for emphasis. “I thought his competitiveness, his physicality was incredible. He took that challenge. We were down 15, down 10, he took that challenge and that affected the whole team.”
This is what the Wolves have been trying to pull from Randle consistently since acquiring him right before last season for Karl-Anthony Towns. With Gobert manning the middle and Jaden McDaniels swooping around the halfcourt like a pterodactyl, Minnesota has been a defense-first team for years. Getting Randle up to that standard has not always been easy. He has put together some great efforts, but he can be moody when things aren’t going well and struggle to help get stops.
But he knew that if he didn’t bring his best in that moment on Sunday, Wembanyama would embarrass him. The Timberwolves had overcome dreadful shooting in the first half to claw back into the game, and with Gobert on the sideline it was up to Randle to deliver on defense. Over the final seven minutes of the game, Randle also gave the Wolves seven points, three rebounds — including two on the offensive end for huge putbacks — and was a plus-11.
TOO STRONG. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/Bf4d2zlciW
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) January 12, 2026
The Wolves have believed all along that Randle has this kind of two-way play inside of him. They have been leaning on him to give more on the defensive end, just as hard as Randle was putting his shoulder into Wembanyama on Sunday night.
“Just push him. Push him on the little things,” Gobert said. “It’s all mental. It’s all about competing. It’s all about when you’re tired, some things aren’t going your way offensively, still doing the little things that can help your team win. And I hold myself to the highest standard, and that’s why I hold my teammates accountable for that, because this is my job.”
The longer the game went, the more the tables turned for Minnesota. Wembanyama had 16 points, six rebounds and was a plus-21 in 12 minutes in the first half, one night after taking over down the stretch to beat the Celtics in Boston. Those numbers dipped to 13 points, one rebound and a minus-4 in 15 minutes of the second half. In the fourth quarter, which the Timberwolves won 33-18, Wembanyama was 0 of 4 with no rebounds, a turnover and a foul, and the Spurs were outscored by seven points in his eight minutes.
San Antonio shot 25 percent in the fourth and missed seven of eight 3-pointers.
“They picked up the physicality, pushed us off our spots,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “A couple times we were not on the same page in terms of passer and catcher and creating the lead and timing. They get credit for that.”
As the Timberwolves’ defense stiffened, their shots finally started falling. They were 0 of 7 in Wembanyama’s first shift of the game and just 3 of 16 from 3 in the first half. Then Donte DiVincenzo went 5 of 7 from 3 in the second half, Naz Reid hit three 3s and Anthony Edwards resumed his outlandish performance in clutch time this season with a pair of incredible shots.
First, he backed down superb Spurs defender Stephon Castle and hit a turnaround jumper over him on the baseline to put the Wolves up 102-100 with two minutes to play, Minnesota’s first lead of the night.
Then came the moment everyone was waiting for. With the Wolves down one in the closing seconds, Edwards got Wembanyama on a switch. They stared at each other just above the 3-point arc, the best hope for American basketball facing down the Frenchman whom everyone believes will own the league one day soon.
To show how much reverence Wembanyama has already earned, one of the cockiest, boldest players in the league said he winced when he drew the matchup. It was the rare occasion when the scorer supreme didn’t know where to go.
“I was like, ‘Damn! Do I got the shot? Do I drive on him?’” Edwards said. “I was confused. I ain’t never been confused. I ain’t going to lie. I’m like, ‘S—, I’m (going to throw it) to Ju. I don’t know what to do right now.”
After a moment of contemplation, Edwards crossed over and surged to his right, used a deft screen from Randle on Castle, then put on a wicked stutter-step to get past Wembanyama and to the basket. He was met there by Luke Kornet, but he lofted a scoop shot off the glass for the lead.
c’ANT STOP HIM.
23 PTS FOR ANT. pic.twitter.com/o8zfsVlbwu
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) January 12, 2026
“I feel like he thought I was going to take a jump shot, for sure,” Edwards said. “He probably would’ve blocked that s—, so I had to drive him.”
For his part, Wembanyama said that he didn’t think he had a play on Edwards’ shot in that scenario.
“We had a rotation, and I don’t think I’m supposed to get to that shot to contest it,” Wembanyama said. “I think I’m supposed to trust the help’s going to be there and go rebound.”
Edwards finished with 23 points, Randle had 15 points and eight rebounds, DiVincenzo put up 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and Reid had 17 points, 11 rebounds and was a team-best plus-23 for the Wolves (26-14), who bounced back from a drubbing in Cleveland on Saturday to win for the sixth time in the last eight games. McDaniels had 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks and Gobert grabbed 14 rebounds for Minnesota.
Wembanyama had 29 points, seven rebounds and three steals, but De’Aaron Fox was just 6 of 19 from the field, including missing a great look at a 3 to win it in the closing seconds.
The Wolves tend to peacock a little bit after victories, but there was no bragging in the locker room after this one. They finish this week in San Antonio on Saturday for the teams’ third meeting after winning the first two, and they know Wemby will be waiting for them.
“He’ll be ready for us, so we’ll have to change something up,” Edwards said.
When he was asked for his secret for guarding Wemby, Randle just smiled and demurred, saying he didn’t want to give anything away with another game just around the corner.
“He’s unbelievable,” Randle said. “All the respect in the world for him, just how he approaches the game, how he plays the game. Unbelievable talent that’s going to be around for a really long time. He’s a tough challenge for sure.”
