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Defense will be the key when the Minnesota Timberwolves hit the road to face the host San Antonio Spurs on Sunday night in a Western Conference clash created by the teams’ performance in the NBA Cup.

Neither the Timberwolves nor the Spurs earned a spot in the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament and collided with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers, respectively, on Friday in advance of their dustup on Sunday.

The Timberwolves head to the Alamo City after a 97-87 home win over the short-handed Lakers in which Anthony Edwards shrugged off an ankle injury to score 23 points. Julius Randle added 21 points for Minnesota, which forced Los Angeles into a season-worst 22 turnovers.

The Timberwolves never trailed and won for the fifth time in their past six games despite shooting just 40.2 percent from the floor. Minnesota has not scored more than 109 points in its recent (mostly) successful stretch as its defense carries the load.

“If we get more wins and less Ls, it’s a good trade-off — I’ll take it,” said Minnesota center Rudy Gobert, who had 12 points and 13 rebounds in the win on Friday. “It might be a little uglier to watch, but at the end of the day, it’s who we are.”

The Spurs roared back from a 17-point, fourth-quarter deficit to win 118-116 in Portland. Victor Wembanyama poured in 28 points, a performance highlighted by a pair of go-ahead free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining in regulation. San Antonio, which leapfrogged to the front with a 24-4 run in the final period, also got 23 points off the bench from Devin Vassell as five Spurs players scored in double figures.

The Spurs played most of the game without veteran point guard Chris Paul, who was ejected in the first quarter. San Antonio was already without the injured Stephon Castle (shoulder), Keldon Johnson (calf), Zach Collins (back) and Tre Jones (shoulder) but still won its second straight game following a three-game slide.

Wembanyama was again a key player for the Spurs despite continuing to play through a back injury.

“Man, I’m so glad about how (my back) feels now,” Wembanyama said after going up against the Trail Blazers. “I got hit at one point and it hurt, but nowhere near as much as it used to.”

Wembanyama made all 10 of his attempts from the charity stripe during the victory on Friday and is hitting 88.5 percent of his free throws this season.

“(Wembanyama’s) poise, his physicality, composure, fundamentals — all those things played a part in it,” Spurs interim coach Mitch Johnson said. “(Getting to the free-throw line more) will be a part of his game that we continue to want to grow. When he does that, he’s going to be that much tougher to guard.”

Sunday marks the second meeting of the season between the teams. San Antonio came away with a 113-103 victory over Minnesota back on Nov. 2. Five Spurs scored in double figures during the win.

–Field Level Media