The Minnesota Timberwolves have cast doubt on the legitimacy of Victor Wembanyama's NBA playoff record 12 blocks, suggesting that several should have been called as goaltending violations.
Record-Breaking Performance Under Scrutiny
The San Antonio Spurs star set the record during his team's conference semi-final loss to the Timberwolves on Monday night. However, Minnesota coach Chris Finch believes the officiating was questionable, claiming that at least four of Wembanyama's blocks were illegal.
"Historic night. But when we looked at [Wembanyama's blocks], at least four of them were goaltending," Finch said on Tuesday. "To me, it's a little alarming that none of them were called. Here's a generational shot blocker … and there's no heightened awareness that these blocks could be goaltends? The third possession of the game is a goaltend. A clear, obvious one. So let's just say there were four [violations], that's eight points. You know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It's massive. That means 33% of his blocks were goaltending uncalled. If I were to give you a 33% raise, you'd like that, right? It's a huge number."
Key Incident at Game Start
One glaring incident occurred early in the game when Wembanyama swatted away a Terrence Shannon Jr layup that had hit the backboard first, which should have resulted in a goaltending call. Instead, Wembanyama was credited with a block.
Shannon said on Tuesday that he would not change his approach going forward. "He gonna have to block it every time, I ain't gonna stop going downhill. I told him that when he said a little something," Shannon said. "He gonna have to block it every time, man. I know he ain't gonna block it every single time. I'm gonna dunk on him."
Minnesota's Rudy Gobert, a teammate of Wembanyama on France's national team, also expressed belief that the Spurs star benefited from favorable calls. "He fouled me on the first one," Gobert said. "But if you look at them, probably three or four [goaltends]."
Looking Ahead
Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Wednesday, with the Timberwolves hoping for tighter officiating.
