SAN ANTONIO – Five days after they got themselves a real education, the Timberwolves go back to school Monday against the Spurs in San Antonio, where the five-time NBA champions are unbeaten this season at 17-0.
On Wednesday, the Spurs won by 25 points at Target Center with a demonstration in selflessness and one sequence in which they passed the ball eight times during a 24-second possession before they ended it with a layup.
"Compared to what they've done to some other teams, I wouldn't say a clinic," Wolves interim head coach Sam Mitchell said.
But it wasn't far off.
The Spurs have remade themselves, ushering Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili toward their final seasons with a new foundation anchored by free-agent signee LaMarcus Aldridge last summer and Kawhi Leonard, whom they've nurtured from a middling 2011 first-round pick into a legitimate league MVP candidate.
If it's possible, the Spurs quietly have compiled a 26-6 record, at least in comparison to Golden State's showy 24-0 season start and 28-1 record. They trail the Warriors by just 3.5 games with 50 games still to play.
When Mitchell watches the Spurs, he envisions his young team's future.
"When I look at teams and how people do things, we're trying to put together a program not to be like them but in our own way mirror some of the things they've done," Mitchell said. "They've been a great basketball team and organization for a long, long time, and there's a reason why. We want a certain player on our team. We want a certain attitude on our team. And we want to start a culture where certain things are expected of you about how we want to play."
