Friday produced two road wins and one performance that belongs in a different conversation entirely. Victor Wembanyama scored 39 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and blocked 5 shots in a 115-108 win in Minneapolis — becoming just the fourth player in NBA history to record 35-plus points, 15-plus rebounds, and 5-plus blocks in a playoff game, joining Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Spurs took a 2-1 series lead over a Timberwolves team that fought with everything they had, Edwards included, and still couldn't close the gap when Wembanyama took over the fourth. Then in Philadelphia — with Villanova banners hanging from the rafters, thousands of Knicks fans having bought up Sixers season-ticket holder seats, and Embiid back from hip and ankle injuries — Jalen Brunson shook off a 2-of-8 start to finish with 33 points and 9 assists, Mikal Bridges added 23, and the Knicks cruised to a 108-94 win to go up 3-0. No team in NBA history has ever come back from 0-3 in a best-of-seven. Both games belonged to the visiting team's best player. One of those performances will be discussed for decades.

NBA Top Shot's playoff prediction game is live — head to nbatopshot.com/playoffs to get in on the action.

Here's how it works: wager your spendable credits on playoff outcomes to earn more. Miss your prediction? No sweat — your credits come back to you. Hit? Stack 'em up and redeem for packs, Moments, or merch at nbatopshot.com/playoffs/store.

Review your outcomes, check your credits, and redeploy them the next day (max 1,000 per day). Whether you “load the boat” with your top convictions, or spread out your plays, the goal is to maximize your credits each day.

Consistency will be key in earning credits toward the various rewards. But there are also other opportunities to earn credits to capture the rewards in the store.

New York Knicks 108, Philadelphia 76ers 94

Embiid begged Sixers fans not to sell their tickets to New Yorkers before the series started. On Friday night, Spike Lee, Timothée Chalamet, Tracy Morgan, and Ben Stiller all made the trip to Philadelphia, along with enough Knicks faithful to split the Wells Fargo Center crowd in a way that made every big New York basket sound like a home game. The arena that housed the 2016 and 2018 Villanova national championship banners became the backdrop for Brunson, Hart, and Bridges — the current Nova Knicks — to take turns putting this series out of reach.

Philadelphia actually started well. The Sixers scored the game's first nine points, led 31-27 after the first quarter behind George going 6-of-9 in the opening period, and looked like a team genuinely capable of making this a series. Then New York outscored them 33-21 in the second quarter — Brunson and Bridges each with 10 in the period, the Knicks shooting 57.1 percent — and led 60-52 at the break. The pattern that has defined this series was already set: Philadelphia's bursts never last, and New York's responses always do.

Brunson started 2-of-8 from the floor and it didn't matter. He finished 11-of-22 with three threes, delivering the daggers that counted — a top-of-the-arc three during a 9-0 Knicks run that made it 95-86 after Quintin Grimes had briefly pulled Philadelphia within four in the fourth, sealing the game before anyone in that split crowd could fully believe in a comeback. Brown said: "I'm Linus. Jalen's my blanket." When Brunson runs Embiid on ball screens on seven consecutive possessions in the third quarter, backing the big man down the lane and converting, that's the series in a sentence. Bridges' 23 on 8-of-14 was the best pure shooting performance of any Knick on the night, and without Anunoby — out with a hamstring strain — Bridges took on more defensive responsibility and still found his spots. Hart and Robinson each contributed in their complementary roles.

Oubre led Philadelphia with 22 points in a playoff career-high performance that deserved a better context. Embiid was back from the hip and ankle injuries that kept him out of Game 2 — 18 points on 7-of-17 with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks, not quite himself, occasionally spectacular but never the force that makes New York genuinely scared. Maxey had 17 points and 7 assists without being assertive. George shot 6-of-18 for 15 points after his hot first quarter. The Sixers were outrebounded 49-33 for the second time in three games. New York fouled Mitchell Robinson intentionally multiple times in the third quarter — he went 2-of-2 — and the scheme barely registered. New York is too big, too deep, and too well-organized for any version of this Philadelphia team to solve.

No team in NBA history has come back from 0-3. Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

NYK leads series 3-0. Game 4 is Sunday in Philadelphia.

NYK 108 · PHI 94

San Antonio Spurs 115, Minnesota Timberwolves 108

The Spurs led 18-3. Minnesota had missed their first 13 shots. Target Center was as quiet as it has been all postseason. Then Edwards scored 12 consecutive Timberwolves points and a 19-5 run closed the quarter, Edwards banking in a 31-footer at the buzzer to pull Minnesota within 23-22. McDaniels swished a wing three at the halftime horn to tie it at 51. Both fourth-quarter-buzzer-beaters erased what had looked like a runaway in the opening minutes. Then Wembanyama went to work.

He finished with 39 points on 13-of-18 from the field and 10-of-12 from the line, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks — becoming the fourth player in NBA history to post 35-plus points, 15-plus rebounds, and 5-plus blocks in a playoff game. The three players who accomplished it before him were Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He scored 16 of his points in the fourth quarter, including the three that answered Reid's three-pointer to push San Antonio ahead by six with 3:06 to go when Minnesota had cut the deficit to three. That shot — a pull-up off the dribble with the game still alive — was the definitive basketball moment of Friday's action. Wembanyama "holding the ship together," as he put it postgame, looked like someone dismantling the ship from inside it.

Castle had 13 points and 12 assists with a team-high plus-17 rating, operating with the maturity of a veteran in a hostile building. Fox scored 17 with 5 assists after a slow start. Vassell contributed 13 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals in a complete supporting performance. The Spurs shot 6-of-10 from three in the decisive third quarter, which opened with a 7-0 run and ended 86-79 San Antonio. There was a flashpoint midway through the third — Castle and McDaniels had to be separated after a timeout; Harper took an inadvertent knee to the back of his head on a loose ball — but the Spurs never lost their composure or their lead.

Edwards was brilliant in defeat. His 32 points on 12-of-26 shooting came with 14 rebounds, 6 assists, and the relentless determination of a player who hyperextended his knee one week ago and started Game 3 anyway. His first-quarter buzzer-beater single-handedly kept Minnesota in a game they had no business being in at the quarter break. Reid came off the bench for 18 points and 9 rebounds, hitting the three that briefly made it 106-103 with 3:27 left and gave Target Center one final moment of hope. McDaniels had 17. But Randle and McDaniels combined to go 8-of-34 from the floor against Wembanyama's presence — unable to get to their spots, unable to finish at the rim — and that shooting collapse is the most significant structural problem Minnesota faces in this series. When Wembanyama is in the building, the Wolves' two most important half-court scorers outside of Edwards disappear.

SAS leads series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday in Minneapolis.

SAS 115 · MIN 108

Friday delivered two performances that define what the second round has become: a showcase for players who are ready for this stage and a reckoning for teams whose depth cannot absorb the pressure. Brunson is the most reliable closer in the Eastern Conference. Wembanyama is something the league hasn't seen — a 7-foot-4 center who can guard the perimeter, score from three, block shots from anywhere, and deliver 16 fourth-quarter points in a road playoff game when the outcome is still undecided.

The second round is asking its hardest questions now. Can Philadelphia manufacture anything in Game 4 with their season on the line? Can Minnesota solve the Wembanyama problem before the series shifts back to San Antonio for Game 5? The teams that have answers — New York, San Antonio — are pulling away from the teams that don't. The teams that don't — Philadelphia, Minnesota's interior scorers — are running out of games to find them. Two more series with similar tensions tip tomorrow.

Stud of the Day: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs — 39 points, 15 rebounds, 5 blocks on 13-of-18 from the floor in a road playoff game. The fourth player in NBA history — after Shaq, Olajuwon, and Kareem — to post 35-plus points, 15-plus rebounds, and 5-plus blocks in a playoff game. He scored 16 in the fourth quarter including the three that ended Minnesota's last real run. He is 22 years old. The argument about what he will become has already been replaced by the argument about what he already is.

Dud of the Night: Philadelphia 76ers (team) — Outrebounded 49-33 for the second time in three games. Embiid returned and shot 7-of-17 with 6 rebounds. George shot 6-of-18. Maxey had 17 and 7 assists but was passive in the first half. The Sixers scored the game's first nine points and led after one quarter, and it still wasn't enough. Game 4 Sunday in Philadelphia is the last chance to avoid one of the more lopsided conference semifinal results in recent memory.