The dumb version of the Spurs-Wolves debate died by 38 points.

San Antonio did not become an old, polished playoff machine overnight. It did not solve every road-possession, late-clock, crowd-noise problem waiting in Minneapolis. But the Game 1 victory lap was lazy then, and it looks worse now. The Spurs lost the opener by two. Victor Wembanyama had already posted 11 points, 15 rebounds, and an NBA postseason-record 12 blocks. That was not a team getting exposed as too young to belong. That was a team with a terrifying defensive base still looking for enough offense around it.

Game 2 supplied the missing half of the argument.

After the 104-102 Game 1 loss, Gilbert Arenas said San Antonio looked too inexperienced and that the series was over. Kendrick Perkins also said he believed it was over after one game. Fine. That is television oxygen. It is not a read.

A read starts with what Minnesota could and could not do. Wembanyama's 12 blocks in Game 1 meant the Wolves could not treat the paint like a normal escape hatch. Drives, dump-offs, and bailout attempts were already running into a player who ruins decent decisions, not just reckless ones. The question was never whether San Antonio had playoff evidence. The question was whether the Spurs could make Minnesota guard enough people to stop loading every tense possession toward Wembanyama and the clock.

In Game 2, they did. Wembanyama had 19 points and 15 rebounds. Stephon Castle scored 21. De'Aaron Fox added 16. Seven Spurs reached double figures, and the reserves kept extending the lead while the starters watched. That matters because it changes the opponent's assignment sheet. Minnesota cannot just say, survive the alien at the rim and squeeze the kids. Castle gave San Antonio another live problem. Fox gave it another source of pressure. The bench made the blowout stay a blowout.

So yes, the age take is dead. Bury it properly.

The series, however, is not dead. Minnesota still has the one piece of context Spurs fans should not wave away: Anthony Edwards came off the bench under a minutes restriction in his second game back from a hyperextended left knee. Edwards, Julius Randle, Jaden McDaniels, and Terrence Shannon Jr. each scored 12, which tells you how flat the Wolves' hierarchy was. A limited Edwards is not a footnote. It changes who initiates, who bends help, who catches with advantage, and who owns the late possession before it turns ugly.

That does not erase San Antonio's work. It just gives Game 3 the right test.

The clean debate now is simple: Game 2 proved the Spurs are not too young to respond. It did not prove they are done being examined. Watch whether Wembanyama still shrinks the paint when Edwards has more say. Watch whether Castle and Fox can create before the clock starts hunting San Antonio. Watch whether Minnesota's offense gets a real first option back, or keeps playing around the restriction.

One bad Game 1 take got smoked. The better argument starts now.