Wemby accused of illegal blocking

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama was accused Tuesday by the Minnesota Timberwolves of repeated illegal goaltending violations during their first National Basketball Association (NBA) playoff clash.

French 7-foot-4 phenom Wembanyama had put in a historic defensive performance in the Spurs’ Western semi-final game-one loss to Minnesota, making an all-time postseason record 12 blocks.

But Timberwolves coach Chris Finch on Tuesday told reporters that “at least four” of Wembanyama’s blocks should have been ruled fouls by match officials.

“Obviously, he had a historic night, but when we looked at them, at least four of them were goaltending, maybe even a fifth,” Finch said.

“To me, it’s a little alarming that none of them were called. Here’s a generational shot blocker who’s seven-foot-six, who goes after everything, and there’s no heightened awareness that these blocks could be goal tends?”

While basketball players can block shots in most circumstances, it is illegal to touch the ball if it is already on a downward trajectory and it is either directly above the net rim, or has already touched the backboard.

“I mean, the third possession of the game was a goaltend, and it was a clean, obvious one,” Finch said.

“So let’s just say there were four. That’s eight points. You know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It is massive.”

The Timberwolves won the game, 104-102, but the Spurs remain favorites to win the series, having finished the regular season five places higher than Minnesota, and with 13 more wins.

Wembanyama is one of three finalists for this year’s NBA Most Valuable Player award, and has already been unanimously named this year’s Defensive Player of the Year.