LOS ANGELES (AFP) — The San Antonio Spurs booked their ticket to the National Basketball Association Western Conference Finals with an emphatic 139-109 win over the Timberwolves on Friday, as the resilient Detroit Pistons stayed alive in the East by defeating Cleveland, 115-94.

The Spurs arrived in Minnesota with a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven semifinals, and led throughout a victory that sets up a tantalizing showdown series with the reigning champion and top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

It is the first time a revitalized San Antonio has reached the conference finals since 2017. While the Thunder are heavy favorites for another championship, the dangerous Spurs enjoyed a 4-1 record against Oklahoma City in the regular season. 

Stephon Castle led Friday’s wire-to-wire win with 32 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 11-of-16 from the field, ably backed up by De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama, who added 21 and 19 apiece.

The win was vindication for French superstar Wembanyama, who was ejected from game four for smashing an elbow into the throat of Minnesota’s Naz Reid, and was predictably targeted by the Timberwolves for the rest of the series.

“I knew, obviously, what they were going to do... I felt like if I gave in to the physicality and the dirtiness, that would have helped them,” said Wembanyama.