Spurs are paying brutal price for the one weakness everyone saw coming

Entering the playoffs, most observers had the same concern for the Spurs. Their youth and inexperience would eventually work against them, as the postseason is a completely different monster in comparison to the regular 82. Those fears have been realized in this series as San Antonio sits in a tie with an obviously inferior Timberwolves team that they should have put away last night.

As we sit four games into this matchup, the Silver and Black have led in somewhere around 60-65% of the series. Nearly every meeting is about Minnesota treading water and trying to make opportunistic runs when they can.

The reality is that when you look at all three of San Antonio's losses going back to the first round against Portland, you can identify inexperience as the determining factor in those outcomes.

The Spurs must learn from these tough lessons

First things first, Victor Wembanyama must realize that the opponent wants him off the floor, and they'll do anything to make that happen; that includes using borderline dirty tactics to aggravate him and force retaliation like he did last night. That doesn't mean the refs are off the hook for not doing their job, but sometimes, they aren't going to do their job, and there's no way to predict which ones will or won't.

It puts the onus on the player to figure out what's happening and do whatever is necessary to impose their will while not crossing any lines. If you get ejected, it's a win for the other team, no matter how you slice it. The Timberwolves don't win that game if Wemby stays on the floor, and they know it. They even looked resigned to the understanding that they are outmatched in this series.

The desperation everyone expected from Minnesota didn't show up until Vic was removed from the floor. All of a sudden, they seemed to be energized, and despite their push, the Spurs still made them earn the victory. Anthony Edwards dropped 36 points without the Alien to worry about, and San Antonio was still dangerously close to winning the game.

The inexperiences manifest for the Spurs in different ways

You could chalk SA's Game 1 loss to rust, but again, that's where the inexperience bit them. A veteran ball club would have realized that their outside shots weren't falling, so aggression in the paint would have ramped up. They didn't do enough of that, and it cost them a win. It was the worst they'd looked all postseason, and it had nothing to do with the Wolves and everything to do with settling for jumpers.

The next game, the Spurs corrected that by playing with more force, like they usually do. I would say they've looked like the better team ever since, but you could see that in the first game, too, despite the three-point loss. As far as Portland goes, we don't want to blame Vic for getting hurt, but learning you can't do certain moves on a guy like Jrue Holiday is something that comes with experience.

The good thing is that the series isn't in any danger zone. They'll be back in San Antonio for Game 5 with two of the next three at home. However, if they keep cool heads and just play ball the way at the level we've seen all season, they won't need that last meeting.

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