Spurs' Wembanyama Ejected From Game 4 Loss For High Elbow on Naz Reid

MINNEAPOLIS -- San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama lost his head and got tossed from Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday after elbowing Naz Reid in the chin.

He picked an awful time for the first Flagrant 2 of his career: the second quarter of a high-stakes game that will either even the series at 2-2 or put Minnesota on the brink of elimination. Minnesota played with the amount of physicalty and intensity everyone expected, and that included a ton of grabbing and pushing Wemby around the floor. With 8:39 left in the second quarter, it came to a head.

Wembanyama fought for a rebound and controlled it through contact as Jaden McDaniels nearly ripped his jersey off. Reid was over his right shoulder, and he swung his right elbow right into Reid's jaw. After a lengthy review, Crew Chief Zach Zarba said that there was windup, follow through, and contact above the neck that was both unneccessary and excessive. It's hard to argue with that assessment.

While Wemby's frustration is understandable, he took it a step too far in a way that put his team in a tough position.

The score was 36-34 Timberwolves at the time, and they ripped off an 8-2 run in the immediate aftermath. With Wembanyama out of the game, the Spurs' center minutes went to Luke Kornet and 6-foot-7 rookie Carter Bryant.

The Spurs have had the best defense in the league all playoffs anchored by the alien block machine, and all series long the Timberwolves have worked to push him away from the rim where he is so dominant.

San Antonio fought hard and built an 8-point lead in the fourth quarter, but couldn't seal the deal without their superstar as the Timberwolves closed strong behind Anthony Edwards and won 114-109, turning this series into a best of 3 as it heads back to San Antonio.

After the game, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said that he didn't believe that Wembanyama intended to hit Reid, but spoke at length about the level of physicality that Wemby has to deal with night in and night out and called on the officials to protect him. In his view, this happened in large part because the referees allow teams to beat Wemby up.

"It's really disappointing, and at some level it's starting to get actually disgusting in terms of when he tries to fight through things and be professional and mature and deal with some of that stuff," Johnson said. "I'm glad he took matters into his own hands - not in terms of hitting Naz Reid, I want to be clear about that, I'm glad Naz Reid is ok and I didn't want him to elbow him - but he's gonna have to protect himself if they're not, and I think it's disgusting."

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