Wembanyama gives the Spurs another gem in a 115-108 win over the T-wolves to take a 2-1 series lead

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Victor Wembanyama delivered another masterpiece with 39 points, 15 rebounds and more game-wrecking defense for the San Antonio Spurs, who took a 2-1 lead in the second-round NBA playoff series with a 115-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.

Wembanyama went 13 of 18 from the floor and 10 of 12 from the line, adding five blocks and a full night of paint deterrence as the Spurs won their second straight game after dropping the opener at home.

“It was like holding the ship together. We had a lead. We didn’t need to rush. We needed to be consistent,” Wembanyama said.

De'Aaron Fox scored 17 points, and Stephon Castle had 13 points and 12 assists with a team-high plus-17 rating.

Anthony Edwards had 32 points and 14 rebounds and Naz Reid added 18 points and nine rebounds for the Wolves, whose defense kept them alive after a woeful start but allowed the Spurs to shoot 6 for 10 from 3-point range in the pivotal third quarter.

Minnesota will host Game 4 on Sunday night. The series shifts back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Tuesday.

Jaden McDaniels drew Wembanyama's fifth foul with 6:18 left and brought the Wolves within 99-98 on pair of free throws, but the Spurs never trailed in the second half despite never leading by double digits. Wembanyama sat for about a minute before coach Mitch Johnson sent him back in.

“We were going to not leave any bullets in the chamber in terms of keeping him on the bench," Johnson said. "We were going to play him, and then if he fouled out, we deal with that.”

Wembanyama didn't flinch despite the foul risk, finishing with 16 points in the fourth quarter. His 3-pointer that answered Reid's pushed San Antonio's lead to six with 3:06 to go. Reid tried another one near the end of the shot clock on the next possession that hit the rim and Wembanyama snagged for another rebound.

Edwards, who showed Minnesota yet again his swift healing ability by returning from a deep bone bruise in his hyperextended left knee after just one week to make the start of the series, had 22 points in the first half to help them snap back from an early 18-3 deficit.

“He needed that. We needed that,” coach Chris Finch said. “He’s battling back to find a game like this, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the result that went along with it.”

The Wolves missed their first 12 shots and didn't get a basket to go down until Rudy Gobert's putback with 6:52 had elapsed, but unlike in the 133-95 drubbing they took in Game 2 on Wednesday they had the defensive intelligence and tenacity at the ready to make up for the long shooting lulls.

Edwards hit a buzzer-beating 31-footer at the end of the first quarter, and McDaniels swished a 3-pointer from the wing to end the first half with a 51-all tie.

McDaniels and Julius Randle were the most affected by Wembanyama's presence, unable to get their short-range and rim-attacking game going. They shot a combined 8 for 34 from the floor.

“I went in the locker room and told the guys we had a bunch of great looks,” Edwards said. “If we make our shots, we win this game.”

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San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) dunks during the first half of Game 3 of a NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Friday, May 8, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) waits for play to resume during the first half of Game 3 of a NBA basketball second-round playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) shoots over San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) and guard Stephon Castle (5) during the first half of Game 3 of a NBA basketball second-round playoff series in Minneapolis, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) scores over San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the first half of Game 3 of a NBA basketball second-round playoff series in Minneapolis, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) drives against San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the first half of Game 3 of a NBA basketball second-round playoff series in Minneapolis, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of building construction projects are underway in New York on any given day. The deadly collapse of a building next to one of those work sites has raised questions about the city's oversight and the safety precautions taken by contractors.

While the investigation is ongoing, some New York officials on Friday called for the hiring of more inspectors by the city's Department of Buildings. The probe, meanwhile, is likely to focus not only on the building that fell but on an adjacent excavation site and its contractors, who had faced previous lawsuits and complaints.

Eight people were killed Wednesday when the three-story structure containing residential and commercial units in Brooklyn collapsed. It fell into a pit dug by workers excavating the site of another building that was recently demolished. Neighbors had reported feeling vibrations from the construction site, and at least one witness saw bricks falling from the building just moments before it collapsed.

Though it remains unclear how often the excavation site had been inspected, some city officials said Friday that more help is needed.

The Department of Buildings has a vacancy rate of around 9% — 168 of its 1,855 authorized positions — according to the city’s comptroller dashboard.

“We must, and we will, ensure that every single one of those positions is immediately filled,” said New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, a Democrat. “This is an unspeakable, horrendous tragedy, and we must meet this moment.”

Democratic City Council Member Farah Louis called for aggressive oversight.

“Grief without accountability is not enough,” Louis said. “Buildings do not simply collapse without systemic failures.”

The city has ordered inspections at more than 160 sites in New York that are associated with six entities linked to the construction and demolition site where the building collapsed, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

It's also bringing in an engineering consulting firm to provide an independent report, which Mamdani described as "standard practice for this kind of a tragic incident.”

All contractors doing excavation work must notify New York’s Department of Buildings 24 to 48 hours in advance, according to guidelines posted on the department’s website.

A contractor on this site provided notice Sept. 9 that work would begin the following day and include rock blasting.

Permits are required for most work, which must also meet submitted plans. All projects are required to have proper precautions, such as shoring, bracing and “regularly checking walls for cracks,” the city’s website says.

If any of the work violates any rule, regulation or law, the city’s building commissioner may issue a stop work order. The Buildings Department may also conduct random audits of excavation projects to inspect shoring, groundwater, excavation depth and other things that could affect safety.

“Department site monitoring does not relieve engineers and contractors of their professional responsibilities,” the city’s website says.

Contractors involved in the demolition and excavation of the property next to the collapsed building had faced previous complaints and alleged violations.

In March, the city issued a stop work order after inspectors concluded the building was being demolished without adequate overhead protection. In April, inspectors found that the demolition work had resumed in violation of that order, the department said, but work was allowed to continue after the problems were corrected.

The general contractor, Townhouse Builders Inc., which also operates as Promont, was accused in a lawsuit of causing extensive damage to an adjacent building during renovation work in Manhattan in 2016. Townhouse denied the allegations in court papers, and the suit appears to have been settled out of court.

Townhouse was also accused in a lawsuit of damaging and compromising the structural integrity of adjacent buildings while performing excavation, pile driving and steel beam installation for a six-story hotel project in Brooklyn in 2016.

The damage included a breached wall, shifting, settlement and cracking, according to the lawsuit, which accused Townhouse of failing to perform a physical inspection prior to excavation and failing to properly support the property’s walls.

Townhouse’s lawyers reached agreements four times to delay their deadline to submit a written answer to the claims but never did. Nothing has been posted to the docket since 2022.

The owner of Townhouse did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

The building that collapsed had a long history of citations for housing code violations, including ones this year for exposed wiring, a sprinkler-system problem, a roof leak and more, city records show. They list over 90 unresolved violations going back to the 1970s.

Building violations are meted out separately, and the structure has been cited in recent years for such things as having an unpermitted advertising sign and failing to file a required gas pipe inspection report, records show.

Messages seeking comment were sent to possible email addresses and phone numbers for the owner, and a message was left with an attorney who may have represented the owner in the past.

The investigation into Wednesday's building collapse should look into whether the designs that were submitted were adequate and, if they were, whether the contractor doing the work made a mistake, said Abi Aghayere, a professor of civil engineering at Drexel University who studies structural systems and why they fail.

“With an old building like this, the room for error is very, very, very, very slim,” Aghayere said.

There are four main possible causes for failure in a project that involves excavating adjacent to an existing building, he said. One is that vibration caused by the work could transmit to the nearby building and weaken the structure, he said.

A question investigators will need to look into is whether the integrity of the building that collapsed was being monitored during the work, Aghayere said.

Two other possibilities are that the shoring in place for the excavation work was not strong or stiff enough, he said. A fourth cause could be seepage of groundwater that caused the soil under the existing building to shift, destabilizing the property, he said.

Everyone — tenants, building owners and landlords — has a responsibility to report anything unusual they see, particularly in older buildings, Aghayere said.

“You might see a crack, don’t take it lightly,” he said. “That crack might be that building just crying out and saying, 'Help, help. I’m about to go.'”

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri; Bauer from Madison, Wisconsin; and Brook from New Orleans. Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, contributed.

New York City Department of Buildings employees stand on a rooftop during their investigation of a building that collapsed the previous day in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

First responders rescue a person after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Ciahola Lawrence, a resident of the Brooklyn building that partially collapsed, becomes emotional as she speaks during a news conference surrounded by public officials and community members in New York, Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Rev. Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference surrounded by public officials and community members in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

First responders work the scene after a building collapsed in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)