SAN ANTONIO — At one point in a heart-pounding fourth quarter, when Ant-Man and the Alien were going shot for shot in what felt like the true dawning of the NBA’s next chapter, all Anthony Edwards wanted was to bring Victor Wembanyama to the top of the key, look him straight in the eyes and tell him to check ball.
“I loved it. I wish we could’ve just moved everybody out of the way and just checked up and me versus him,” Edwards said.
Forget U.S. vs. the World. Forget a round-robin tournament or a player-led draft of the teams. What could be more tantalizing than Edwards and Wembanyama, two of the brightest young stars the league has to offer, going one-on-one at All-Star weekend with bragging rights as the ultimate prize?
That is what essentially unfolded Saturday night in San Antonio, when the two went at it down the stretch of Wembanyama’s Spurs’ 126-123 victory over Edwards’ Minnesota Timberwolves.
Wembanyama scored 39 points, went 4 for 9 from 3-point range and grabbed nine rebounds in 30 minutes. He scored 20 points, hit three 3s and went 7 for 8 from the free-throw line in San Antonio’s 48-point second quarter, looking as unstoppable as any 22-year-old could possibly look.
ALIEN STUFF 🛸
📺@FanDuelSN_SW pic.twitter.com/cGPuRoMwZz
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 18, 2026
Behind his other-worldly combination of size, shooting and smoothness, the Spurs raced out to a 25-point lead at halftime, taking advantage of a Timberwolves team on the second night of a back-to-back and without both starting center Rudy Gobert (hip contusion) and his replacement, Naz Reid, who only played five minutes before leaving with a left shoulder injury.
Just when the short-handed Wolves looked powerless to stop the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, Edwards, who had missed the previous two games because of an infection in his toe that had been bothersome for several weeks, came to the rescue. After coach Chris Finch lit the team up at halftime for its lack of intensity, Edwards told his teammates they had to regain some of their defensive edge, starting with himself.
“The first two possessions of the game, (De’Aaron) Fox blew by me for a layup,” Edwards said. “So just, we’ve got to be better defensively. And then Finch came in here and got on our ass and we responded.”
That doesn’t do justice to the onslaught that Edwards unleashed. He scored 39 of his career-high 55 points in the final two quarters, including 26 in the fourth.
The Wolves cut that deficit to 12 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but Edwards was just getting started. He went 5 for 7 from 3 in the final period, including a 25-footer that gave the Wolves a 113-110 lead with 2:58 to play.
HE IS UNCONSCIOUS. pic.twitter.com/Arz9cfBDEW
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) January 18, 2026
His teammates on the bench put their hands on their heads in disbelief as the shots kept falling. Donte DiVincenzo snapped out of a rough stretch that included missing seven of his first eight shots to hit two big 3s in the final two minutes and keep the Wolves alive.
It was Edwards’ third career 50-point game, tying Karl-Anthony Towns for most in franchise history. He went 19 for 33 from the field, including 9 for 16 from 3-point range.
“I’m not gonna lie. It’s fun,” Edwards said. “It put a smile on my face. People don’t understand. Getting 50 is hard. They’re gonna trap you, they’re gonna send two, they’re going to send three. You gotta make a lot of tough shots to get 50.”
Wembanyama stood tall in response. He made two free throws, hit a clutch jumper that gave the Spurs a 120-119 lead with under a minute to play and got a block on countryman Joan Beringer on the other end to help preserve the win for San Antonio (29-13).
“It’s an honor and it’s the best thing to have the best players go as hard as they can,” Wembanyama said. “First of all, it makes us better, it makes me better. And it’s a show of respect, of progress stepping up because now the standings make us that we are a respectable team.”
WEMBY RANGE 🎯
📺@FanDuelSN_SW pic.twitter.com/prYqrQBFGv
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 18, 2026
The Spurs have been one of the biggest surprises in the league this season, surging to the second-best record in the conference much quicker than most expected. The success has put a 7-foot-4 target on their backs.
Just last week, the Timberwolves and Spurs went at it in a mid-January game that felt like it was being played in May. Minnesota rallied from 19 down to win that one at Target Center, and the Wolves knew they had to bring their best in the rematch in San Antonio.
“They got Wemby. He’s supposed to be the face of the league,” Edwards said. “I always gotta get up for that one.”
Edwards and Wembanyama are part of a small club of players stepping up to the top tier of the league as longtime headliners LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant enter their golden years as players. Edwards’ swagger and his role in leading the Wolves to back-to-back conference finals appearances have undoubtedly cast him as a face of the league at this point. He’ll have to contend for the singular title with Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Dončić and whoever else comes along.
Edwards has made it clear several times that he has no interest in taking that nebulous title.
“Victor can have it,” Edwards said. “I feel like you gotta carry this … whatever it is … on your shoulders that people want you to be and I’m gonna be myself no matter what. I don’t want too much pressure.”
Edwards embraces the basketball pressure of it all. He wants the ball in his hands in the biggest of moments. Once a poor decision-maker and inefficient shooter in clutch situations, Edwards is shooting an inconceivable 72.3 percent in those situations in this, his sixth season, including 62 percent from deep.
“He was inspirational,” Finch said Saturday.
James and Curry aren’t just great players; they’re ambassadors, stewards of the game with demands on their time far beyond the court itself. Edwards is a trash-talking, profanity-hurling, fun-loving player who works extremely hard on his game, but would prefer not to be bothered by the push and pull of the league office. His power is his ability to be himself, to always have that smile and that unwavering confidence.
In only his third season, Wembanyama has all the makings of a true NBA statesman. He understands how fickle the mob can be and is already going above and beyond the conventional boundaries of stardom.
“Sometimes people are going to be angry at you. Sometimes people love,” Wembanyama said. “As long as you’re yourself and happy. We’re playing basketball. We got a great life.”
When asked if he would like to be at the top of the league’s marketing machine one day, Wembanyama did not answer directly. Instead, he admired Edwards for being true to himself.
“I think it’s a good thing to be guided in life in general. And for us, it’s a great thing to be grown in this,” Wembanyama said. “The good thing is to be yourself because if we want to last in this league, we can’t play a role for 15, 20 years. So at some point it’s like, if you think you’re a good person, just be yourself.”
For now, the matchups on the court between these two young cornerstones provide all the entertainment and intrigue anyone could ask for. The most exciting thing for both of them is they have plenty of help.
Jaden McDaniels had 23 points, five rebounds and five assists Saturday night, Julius Randle had 17 points, 10 rebounds and played terrific interior defense in the fourth quarter, and the rookie Beringer had 10 points, eight rebounds and was a team-high plus-9 in 23 minutes for the Timberwolves (27-16).
Fox had 25 points and 12 assists for the Spurs and Keldon Johnson scored 20 points, including a huge 3-pointer with 17 seconds left that iced the win.
SPLASH 💦
📺@FanDuelSN_SW pic.twitter.com/3GbtppsZUE
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) January 18, 2026
The one-on-one game that Edwards wants won’t come to fruition anytime soon. He and Wembanyama will have to settle for the occasional moment when they are matched up. Just last week, Edwards got past Wembanyama on his way to the rim for the game-winning bucket.
“I’m just mad that I can’t guard him because he’s 7-8,” Edwards said, only slightly exaggerating. “Most of the guys, I can switch on to them and guard them. But he’s fun to play against.”
He has already made it clear that he is on the hunt for his first dunk on Wembanyama. When he entered the league, Edwards was dubbed “The Poster Child” because of his knack for dunking on bigger players. Now he has his sights set on the biggest.
“I’m gonna try to catch him,” Edwards said. “For sure.”
Wembanyama had a simple reply: bring it on.
“(Edwards is) just trying to dunk on everybody, so I’m not an exception,” Wembanyama said. “And I’ll be up for the challenge, of course. If he’s got a good momentum, and if I’m just a little bit late, he might be not very forgiving, but it’s fine. I’ll try. Over the years, I will try to block him more than he does on me.”
Through these early battles, admiration grows. Edwards said he expected the Spurs to be one of the toughest outs in the playoffs, along with Oklahoma City and Denver. He has watched as Wembanyama has added muscle to his frame.
“I can see from a distance that he’s a worker,” Edwards said. “I can’t do nothing but respect that.”
There is no greater compliment in Edwards’ world than that one, but that doesn’t mean he is going to back down as Wemby ascends. When asked who would win in that hypothetical one-on-one game, he never hesitated.
“Me.”
