Victor Wembanyama scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the host San Antonio Spurs dominated the final three quarters on the way to a 133-95 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, leveling the teams’ Western Conference semifinal series at one win apiece.

Second-seeded San Antonio has not lost back-to-back contests since Jan. 11 at Minnesota and Jan. 13 at Oklahoma City, a stretch of 49 games.

San Antonio swamped the sixth-seeded Timberwolves in the second quarter, turning a seven-point lead after the opening period into a 24-point advantage at halftime. The Spurs expanded the margin to 98-63 after three periods as Julian Champagnie poured in all 12 of his points on the night via four 3-pointers in the frame.

From there, San Antonio cruised to the finish, building its lead to as many as 47 points.

Stephon Castle’s 21 points led the Spurs, with De’Aaron Fox scoring 16, Harrison Barnes tallying 12, Dylan Harper adding 11, Devin Vassell hitting for 10 points and Keldon Johnson pulling down 10 rebounds. Wembanyama canned two 3-pointers but is just 2 of 15 from behind the arc for the series.

Julius Randle, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 12 points each to lead the Timberwolves. Naz Reid added 11 points, and Rudy Gobert snagged 10 rebounds.

Games 3 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Friday in Minneapolis.

San Antonio led 24-17 after 12 minutes of play.

The Spurs used a grab-it-and-go attack in the second quarter to run away from the Timberwolves. San Antonio forced the pace even after made baskets and went to the hole at every opportunity, scoring eight fastbreak points and amassing 18 points in the paint in the second period alone to take a 59-35 lead into the break. The Timberwolves logged their lowest scoring output for a first half in any game this season.

Wembanyama and Fox each had 14 points before halftime, in the process exceeded their combined total points in San Antonio’s Game 1 loss by seven. Castle added 12 points for the Spurs, who outshot Minnesota 45.7% to 29.8% in the first half despite missing 15 shots in the paint.

Randle and Edwards led the Timberwolves with eight points apiece in the first half but shot a combined 6 of 17 from the floor.

On the night overall, the Spurs made 50% of their field-goal attempts and the Timberwolves hit 39.8%.

–Field Level Media

The NCAA could formalize expansion of the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to a 76-team format as soon as Thursday, ESPN reported on Wednesday night.

The tournament fields will expand from 68 teams beginning in 2027, with NCAA calls scheduled for Thursday as the final steps in the process, ESPN reported.

The NCAA denied any final decision had been made following multiple reports in late April that plans for expansion are expected to be approved by NCAA committees and formalized as soon as this month.

“Expanding the basketball tournaments would require approval from multiple NCAA committees, including the men’s and women’s basketball committees, and no final recommendations or decisions have been made at this time,” the NCAA’s April 28 statement read.

The format change requires approval from the men’s basketball committees, the men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees, the Division I cabinet and the Division I Board of Governors.

ESPN reported on Wednesday that after expansion talks for more than a year, and contracts with the men’s tournament media partners near completion in late April, the final steps are expected to be smooth.

Multiple outlets reported last month that the NCAA plans for 52 teams to slot into the main bracket and the other 24 teams will face off in 12 games on the Tuesday and Wednesday after Selection Sunday, filling out the Round of 64 with the winners. It will no longer be called the “First Four,” with the terminology expected to be “opening round” for the play-ins and “first round” for the Round of 64.

The 12 games are expected to be in Dayton, Ohio, current site of the First Four, and a second site to be determined.

It would mark the first expansion of the tournament since the field moved from 65 to 68 teams with the addition of the First Four games in 2011. The field had previously been 64 or 65 teams since 1985.

The Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference were the leading voices behind tournament expansion, Yahoo Sports reported in April. NCAA president Charlie Baker has also voiced his support.

“I said all along that I think there are some very good reasons to expand the tournament,” Baker told ESPN in February. “So, I would like to see it expand.”

–Field Level Media

Lukas Dostal made 22 saves while leading the Anaheim Ducks to a 3-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday in Las Vegas, evening their best-of-seven Western Conference second-round playoff series at one win each.

Beckett Sennecke, Leo Carlsson and Jansen Harkins scored for the Ducks.

The series now shifts to Anaheim for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday.

Mark Stone scored a late power-play goal and Carter Hart finished with 25 saves for Vegas, which lost in regulation at home to the Ducks for only the fourth time (16-4-1) in franchise history.

Vegas killed off eight minutes of penalties in the first half of a scoreless opening period, including 1:37 of a 5-on-3 after Jack Eichel picked up a four-minute double minor for high-sticking Mikael Granlund.

The Ducks, who scored on eight of their 16 power-plays chances while defeating the Edmonton Oilers in six games in their first round matchup, have yet to score with the extra man in the series against the Golden Knights. Anaheim is now 0-for-9 on the power play.

Anaheim took a 1-0 lead midway through the second period on Sennecke’s second goal of the playoffs. Jeffrey Viel picked up the primary assist, stealing the puck from Vegas defenseman Kaedan Korczak along the boards behind the net and then passing to Sennecke in the low slot. The Calder Trophy finalist for rookie of the year, who scored 23 goals in the regular-season, then chipped a shot past Hart’s glove side.

The Ducks extended the lead to 2-0 at the 6:36 mark of the third period on Carlsson’s fourth goal of the playoffs. Troy Terry set up the score with a crossing pass from the left circle to Carlsson alone on the backdoor by the right post. Carlsson then roofed a wrist shot past Hart’s glove side.

Vegas pulled Hart with four minutes remaining for an extra attacker and Harkins sealed the win with an empty-netter thirty seconds later, his first goal since New Year’s Eve against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Golden Knights spoiled Dostal’s shutout bid with just 5.6 seconds on to go when Stone redirected a Eichel shot from along the right boards for his third goal of the playoffs.

–Field Level Media