The San Antonio Spurs were surprised at home on Monday by the Minnesota Timberwolves 104-102 to start their Western Conference semi-final, despite Victor Wembanyama setting a new record for blocks (12).

After qualifying against Portland in the first round (4-1), the Spurs and their French phenomenon, who is discovering the final stages, were able to see that the level rises as the rounds progress, and the experienced Timberwolves bit at the right time to lead 1-0 in this best-of-seven series.

The highly anticipated duel between Victor Wembanyama, voted best defender of the year, and Rudy Gobert (7 points, 10 rebounds), a four-time recipient of this distinction, took shape from the first three plays: Wembanyama blocked, Gobert blocked, and Wembanyama blocked.

This was enough to kick off the evening for "Wemby", who continued to contest the attempts of daring visitors at high altitude, reaching the break with seven blocks, for a total of 12, a new NBA record in a playoff game (10 previously).

The 22-year-old Frenchman finished with a nice triple-double (11 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 12 blocks) but ended his evening frustrated by his poor shooting.

- "We must do better" -

Wembanyama shot 5 for 17, and even 0 for 8 from beyond the arc, persisting behind the arc without success, and made some mistakes with three turnovers, a careless mistake at the end of the 24 seconds of a possession, or even a charge with 5 minutes left.

"I need to start by taking and making shots, using my energy better, I used it a lot on one side of the court. On offense I also spent energy on things useless to my team, that's my fault," the Frenchman commented in a press conference.

"We must do better, we have 48 hours to find solutions, and we will find them, I have no doubt," he assured.

Between these two teams specializing in defense, the score remained close, the gap never reaching 10 points, with 19 changes at the top of the scoreboard.

The difference was made by experience in favor of the Wolves, who are aiming for a third consecutive Western Conference final, while the Texas franchise is back in the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

The pack led by Chris Finch was able to count on the unexpected return of Anthony Edwards, nine days after suffering a hyperextension of his left knee.

Starting on the bench, visibly hampered on several plays, "Ant-man" was decisive with 18 points, including 11 in a breathless final quarter, sometimes attacking the basket, sometimes shooting from long range.

- The Knicks are in force -

The powerful Julius Randle finished as the game's top scorer (21 points, 10 rebounds), ahead of rookie Dylan Harper (18 points), the Spurs' top scorer off the bench.

Julian Champagnie (17 pts) had the game-winning shot in his hands, but missed his shot from behind the arc at the buzzer.

The Texans and Wembanyama will have the opportunity to redeem themselves as early as Wednesday for game 2, still at home.

Earlier in the day, the New York Knicks had made a perfect start to their Eastern Conference semi-final by thrashing the Philadelphia Sixers 137-98.

The Knicks put on an offensive display led by their point guard Jalen Brunson, who was unstoppable with 35 points (12 of 18 shooting) in just 30 minutes of play.

Joel Embiid also had a good start (14 points, 4 rebounds), forcing the Knicks into numerous fouls, but Paul George's 76ers (17 points) never found the key defensively, two days after eliminating the Boston Celtics in the first round in Game 7.