Pakistan, May 14 -- Victor Wembanyama scored 27 points - 18 in a rousing first quarter - and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the host San Antonio Spurs past the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-97 on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.

Game 6 in the best-of-seven series is Friday in Minneapolis while Game 7 (if necessary) would be back in the Alamo City on Sunday.

Wembanyama returned to action after being ejected in the second quarter of an eventual 114-109 loss to the host Timberwolves in Game 4 on Sunday. He connected on an elbow to the face of Naz Reid and was ejected after officials reviewed the incident on replay to a flagrant 2 foul, which is an automatic ejection.

The Spurs led by as many as 18 p...