Victor Wembanyama has 12-block triple-double in Spurs' loss - ESPN

SAN ANTONIO — Still contemplative in the aftermath of a 104-102 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama lamented what he described as energy mismanagement for ruining a historic defensive performance.

Wembanyama racked up an NBA-playoffs-record 12 blocks Monday night and scored 11 points with 15 rebounds, becoming the third player in postseason history to log a triple-double with blocks, after Andrew Bynum and Hakeem Olajuwon.

But Wembanyama believes his energy could have been used more effectively.

«I feel like I had to use my energy,» he said. «Obviously, I used a lot of it on one side of the court. On the other side, offensively, I used too much energy on things that didn't really help our team. So, that's on me. There was some good and some bad. It's a lot on me because my game wasn't feeling good tonight [to] where the team is going to look for me. If I had been better, if the offensive leaders on our team would have been better, it would have been different. So, basically, if everything was different, it would have been different.»

Wembanyama's last remark drew chuckles from the assembled media, but what wasn't a laughing matter was his performance and decision-making on the offensive end. In addition to connecting on his lowest field goal percentage (29%) so far in the playoffs, Wembanyama missed all eight of his attempts from 3-point range, which registered as the most misses from deep without a make by a player in Spurs playoff history.

Minnesota's tenacious defense played a role, especially the frontcourt duo of Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle, which continuously pushed Wembanyama off his spots and prevented him from establishing