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NBA Playoffs: 76ers Go Cold, Spurs Don't Care They're Young and More Takeaways

By SI Staff & Ryan Phillips Sports Illustrated

Updated May 6, 2026 10:02 PM

Another night of NBA postseason action is in the books, and it was a tale of two very different games on Wednesday.

In the early window, the 76ers and Knicks battled in a tightly contested matchup before New York pulled away in the fourth quarter as Philly went ice cold from the field. The 108-102 sends that series back to Philadelphia with the Knicks up 2–0, but the 76ers have already erased a 3–1 deficit this postseason, and it's possible former MVP Joel Embiid finds his way back onto the court this series, so don't count them out quite yet.

In the nightcap, the Spurs absolutely annihilated the Timberwolves 133-95 in a much-needed home win. Minnesota talked a big game about continuing to attack Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs after their gutsy win in Game 1, but San Antonio truly stuffed the Wolves in a locker on Wednesday night to send the series to Minnesota tied 1–1.

Below, we break down our takeaways from the active night of basketball, and further below, you can find our live recap of the evening as it happened Wednesday night.

Jalen Brunson is an elite closer

When the Knicks needed big buckets late in a tight playoff game, they knew who to turn to. And Jalen Brunson, once again, proved he is one of the best closers in the NBA. New York trailed by one entering the fourth quarter, and that's when the team's point guard went to work.

In a back-and-forth contest that featured 25 lead changes and 14 ties, Brunson put the Knicks up 101–99 with a 17-foot pull-up jumper with 5:06 remaining. They never trailed again. He followed that up with a 16-footer two possessions later that made the score 103–99, before adding two late free throws with 1:06 remaining to increase the lead to seven points and all but lock it up.

Entering the fourth quarter, Brunson was 6-for-17 from the field and didn't display his usual control over the game. He turned it on when the final period started, going 3-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. His eight points were the most by anyone in the final 12 minutes, and he finished with a game-high 26 points.

The Knicks knew who to give the ball to in crunch time. Brunson rewarded them for doing so.

Philly went cold at the wrong time

The Sixers entered the fourth quarter with a 90–89 lead and were poised to steal Game 2 on the road. Then they inexplicably went ice cold from the field. While the Knicks surged, Philadelphia couldn't buy a bucket.

After leading for much of the game, the 76ers went 4-for-19 (21.1%) from the field in the final quarter and were 1-for-10 from three-point range. Tyrese Maxey scored 21 points in the first three quarters but really struggled in the fourth. He went 2-for-7 from the field, while VJ Edgecombe missed a few open shots and finished 0-for-4 and Paul George was 0-for-5.

The Knicks outscored the Sixers 19–12 in the final quarter, and it was evident Philadelphia was missing the interior buckets Joel Embiid could have provided. With the former MVP sidelined, all the weight of the offense landed on Maxey's shoulders, and he struggled as the Knicks threw everything at him defensively. The 76ers need Embiid to get healthy if they want to mount a comeback in this series.

The Spurs don't care about experience

If nothing else, the Spurs crushed a narrative on Wednesday night. Their dominant, 38-point win over the Timberwolves in Game 2 stopped any talk that they were too inexperienced to handle a stiff playoff challenge. San Antonio shrugged off a heartbreaking Game 1 loss and delivered one of the most complete performances we've seen this postseason.

The Spurs were balanced, as six players finished in double figures and, through the three quarters that mattered, played fantastic defense. They held the Timberwolves to 35.3% shooting from the field and 23.8% from three-point range entering the fourth quarter, while forcing 19 turnovers. Meanwhile, for the game, San Antonio hit 50.0% of its field goals and 41.0% of its shots from deep, while scoring 133 points, the franchise's most in a playoff game since 1983.

This young San Antonio squad faced real adversity for the first time in the playoffs and responded by delivering a haymaker to its opponent.

Turnovers sunk the Timberwolves in Game 2

After winning the first game of the series, the Timberwolves entered Game 2 in San Antonio looking to take a shocking 2–0 lead. That didn't happen, as the Spurs came ready and had blown Minnesota off the floor by halftime. While San Antonio had a lot to do with the mess that was the Timberwolves' performance, the team sunk itself by giving up the ball too much.

Through three quarters, Minnesota had 19 turnovers and only 24 made field goals. That's remarkable. The team cleaned that up a bit with the game out of reach in the fourth, but still finished with 22 turnovers and only 35 made field goals.

Key players gave up the ball too much. Julius Randle had five turnovers, and Rudy Gobert had four, as did Anthony Edwards. The team's leaders have to be better with the ball if they're going to have a chance in this series. The Spurs are too good to give up possessions that easily.

Relive all the action from our live blog below.

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How we got here

Anthony Edwards made his triumphant return from injury in Game 1 for the Timberwolves against the Spurs. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Knicks vs. 76ers

After coming back from a 2–1 deficit against the Hawks, the Knicks continued their dominant run of play, winning Game 1 against the Sixers 137–98 behind 35 points from star point guard Jalen Brunson. New York knocked down 63% of its shots from the field and 19 of 37 three-pointers in the win.

Those percentages are likely unsustainable, but at this point the Knicks have cruised for four straight wins and look like the team to beat in the East.

Spurs vs. Timberwolves

The Timberwolves have had a "never say die" attitude all postseason long, overcoming a slew of injuries to knock out their Western Conference rival, the Nuggets, in six games. Now, Anthony Edwards is back and looked solid in Game 1, despite returning from a knee injury far earlier than was expected. Dosunmu is back available. This is a team whose health is trending in the right direction.

The Spurs struggled offensively in Game 1's 104–102 loss, but this is still a formidable squad. Victor Wembanyama managed a triple-double with 11 points, 15 rebounds and 12 blocks-some of which may have been questionable, but that statline is impressive any way you cut it. And that came with a pretty poor offensive outing, as he shot just 5-for-17 from the field and missed all eight of his threes.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NBA Playoffs: 76ers Go Cold, Spurs Don't Care They're Young and More Takeaways.

This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 2:58 PM.