Having the best player on the court gives teams a serious advantage in the postseason. It used to be the LeBron James effect, carrying his team to eight consecutive NBA Finals. We could very well be witnessing Victor Wembanyama take the torch as the generational superstar crushing teams' playoff hopes year after year.
Unfortunately, the Portland Trail Blazers were the first victim of the Wembanyama collision course. The Minnesota Timberwolves appear next, after San Antonio won a pivotal Game 5, taking a 3-2 series lead on the back of Wembanyama.
The Alien avenged a Game 4 ejection with a dominant 27-point, 17-rebound, 5-assist, 3-block performance. In the postgame press conference, Anthony Edwards mentioned the Timberwolves need to execute their overall game plan better, but also added that there's not much they can do when Wembanyama is playing at that high a level.
Naz Reid has been more effective than Rudy Gobert this series
One adjustment Minnesota should consider is starting Naz Reid at center over Rudy Gobert, a suggestion made by Reggie Miller during the broadcast.
Gobert struggles to space the floor offensively, meaning Wembanyama has more room to roam as a shot blocker. In fact, the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year has more blocks throughout the series than Minnesota has made field goals when he's the one contesting the shot.
We've never seen a player wreak havoc as such an elite individual weapon who covers so much ground. It's easier said than done, but the key to attacking the Spurs' defense is either to go on runs when Wembanyama is out or, more sustainably, to attack the paint by pulling him out. Gobert has been allowing Wembanyama to play to his strengths, and we've seen this Minnesota offense be more effective when Reid is out there as a more versatile option.
To a certain extent, we saw a similar thing happen in the Portland series with Donovan Clingan.
Blazers had a similar dilemma with Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams
The Blazers center has made major strides in improving his three-point shot, but unfortunately, it wasn't reliable enough against the Spurs. He struggled to get anything going on offense, averaging just 7.0 points while shooting 30.4 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from deep in that five-game stretch. It forced Clingan into a more limited role, as his minutes declined to an average of 21.4 per game.
The imperfect comparison comes from Robert Williams III not spacing the floor as effectively as Reid, but the more versatile option still outplayed the defensive anchor against the Spurs.
Williams was night-and-day more effective than Clingan. Fans and analysts were urging Tiago Splitter to start Williams over Clingan as the series progressed, though he never made the swap.
Wembanyama is such a unique talent that these traditional defensive anchors -- the Goberts and Clingans of the world -- become more of a liability than a solution. There may be no perfect solution as Wembanyama is virtually unstoppable on certain nights. But the Blazers learned throughout the first round that Williams' versatility was at least a better option, and the Timberwolves are coming to a similar realization with Reid.
We'll see how Minnesota continues to adjust to The Alien in Game 6 on Friday.
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