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The pleasant postseason story of the Illini Timberwolves has come to an end with the San Antonio Spurs crushing Minnesota 139-109 tonight and winning the Western Conference second-round series in six games.
Behind Stephon Castle's 32 points, two-seed San Antonio advances to play one-seed Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals, which begin Monday night at 7:30 p.m. Central Time. Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 24 points in defeat.
Ultimately, San Antonio was too complete of an opponent for a Minnesota team that dealt with serious injuries throughout the postseason.
Entering Game Six, former Illini Terrence Shannon Jr. was listed as questionable with a head contusion. Shannon did play Friday night, scoring 21 points in 22 minutes off the bench after scoring just 15 points in his last three games.
As for another former Illini, Ayo Dosunmu, he started and finished with 10 points and 9 assists during 23 minutes.
An unrestricted free agent this summer, Dosunmu should have plenty of suitors, especially after stepping up to score 43 points in a Game Four victory against the Denver Nuggets during the first-round.
As for Shannon, who did not even play during the first three games of the Nuggets' series, it shall be interesting to see if he will have a bigger role with the Timberwolves in the future. For some reason, Minnesota Head Coach Chris Finch seemed reluctant to play Shannon until he absolutely had to due to injuries to Donte DiVicenzo, Edwards and even Dosunmu. Shannon has two years left on his four-year rookie contract and is a favorite of Minnesota Co-Chairman and controlling owner Alex Rodriguez, the former MLB superstar with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees.
As it is the NBA, Minnesota could move on from Finch, a good coach who seems to have gotten the most out of a talented Timberwolves' team that has lost in the Western Conference Finals and second round twice during the past three playoffs.
Behind Stephon Castle's 32 points, two-seed San Antonio advances to play one-seed Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals, which begin Monday night at 7:30 p.m. Central Time. Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 24 points in defeat.
Ultimately, San Antonio was too complete of an opponent for a Minnesota team that dealt with serious injuries throughout the postseason.
Entering Game Six, former Illini Terrence Shannon Jr. was listed as questionable with a head contusion. Shannon did play Friday night, scoring 21 points in 22 minutes off the bench after scoring just 15 points in his last three games.
As for another former Illini, Ayo Dosunmu, he started and finished with 10 points and 9 assists during 23 minutes.
An unrestricted free agent this summer, Dosunmu should have plenty of suitors, especially after stepping up to score 43 points in a Game Four victory against the Denver Nuggets during the first-round.
As for Shannon, who did not even play during the first three games of the Nuggets' series, it shall be interesting to see if he will have a bigger role with the Timberwolves in the future. For some reason, Minnesota Head Coach Chris Finch seemed reluctant to play Shannon until he absolutely had to due to injuries to Donte DiVicenzo, Edwards and even Dosunmu. Shannon has two years left on his four-year rookie contract and is a favorite of Minnesota Co-Chairman and controlling owner Alex Rodriguez, the former MLB superstar with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees.
As it is the NBA, Minnesota could move on from Finch, a good coach who seems to have gotten the most out of a talented Timberwolves' team that has lost in the Western Conference Finals and second round twice during the past three playoffs.
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