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The Lead: Carla Simón's Unique Approach to Family DramaFamily reunions in European arthouse cinema are almost always unhappy events, on a scale of strife that ranges from simmering resentment to spectacular score-settling. Carla Simón, however, has a rare gift: she makes you leave the cinema with renewed faith that having relatives and keeping in touch with them may actually be a wonderful thing.No film-maker working in Europe now is as capable of turning birthday gatherings, garden parties or poolside barbecues into thrillingly sprawling canvases of human virtue and vice as this 39-year-old rising star. From a riotous water fight in the Berlinale Golden Bear-winning farming drama Alcarràs to a foul-mouthed dinner table singalong in her new film Romería, Simón directs kinship meetings with the attention to detail that other film-makers may invest in action sequences or dance routines.The Event Details: Romería and the Journey to Self-DiscoveryAmong the tricks Simón employs, she explains, is to ensure her actors only read the script once before the camera starts rolling, so they have to improvise to fill the gaps. She takes her casts to parties, for walks and on shopping trips, and if there are disagreements on the way, so much the better. The ultimate secret sauce, though, is to ignore WC Fields's notorious advice and always work with children and animals."I never get bored of working with kids," she says. "When you are only working with adult actors, shooting becomes more like executing an idea that you have in your mind, and I think that is not interesting. With children, you always have this feeling that that things are going to happen in front of the camera by chance. It keeps things alive."Her new film Romería, meaning "pilgrimage" in Spanish, dives deeper into the story of the biological parents she barely got to know. Eighteen-year-old Marina travels to her relatives in Vigo, in north-western Galicia, purportedly to find the death certificate of her biological father, which she needs to study film-making in Barcelona. The initial reaction is warm, but family is a room with dark corners and locked closets.The Personal Journey: Aids, Loss and Family SecretsSimón's fascination with freewheeling scenes of family life was undoubtedly honed through her own biography. Born in Barcelona in 1986, her father died when she was three and her mother when she was six. Both of them succumbed to Aids. She was 12 when her adoptive mother told her that her parents had been infected with the autoimmune disease through their use of drugs.All of her first three films have been strongly autobiographical: Summer 1993 tells the story of a six-year-old girl who moves to an unspecified location countryside to live with her aunt after the death of her mother, while 2022's Alcarràs is specifically set in the Catalan peach-growing community of her adoptive family.In the film, a cache of letters written by her late mother opens up a portal to the time when her parents met and discovered love – for each other, the Atlantic Ocean and drugs. The letters, Simón explains, are real. "She wrote to her friends and family while she lived in Vigo. Her Catalan is full of mistakes, because teaching Catalan was banned under the Franco regime. But they are the most important thing that I have from my mother, because suddenly I can hear her talking."The Impact Analysis: Spanish Cinema and the Legacy of AidsSpanish cinema has a track record in making films where child actors take centre stage: Ana Torrent's spell-binding turn as a young girl obsessed with the Frankenstein tale in Víctor Erice's 1973 film The Spirit of the Beehive is considered an all-time great performance by a minor, and Simón describes it as "a very, very important film for me".During the transition period after Franco's rule, Madrid gave birth to la movida, a countercultural movement that celebrated lifestyles that had been banned under military rule. "All these kids who were raised under Franco and religious oppression, suddenly freedom arrived and they embraced it", Simón says. "They didn't think much about the future or the consequences of what they were experimenting with. And then the drugs came in."When we talk about this generation in Spain, people sometimes use words like shame and blame, but I feel that's really unfair: people like my parents just had bad luck.The Future Direction: Beyond Family in Simón's Next ProjectHalfway through Romería there is a stylistic shift, from the Eurorealism she favoured in her previous works toward something more magical-realist: there is a mysterious cat you might expect to encounter in a Miyazaki film, and an unforgettable dance number set to Vigo punk rocker's Siniestro Total's song Bailaré Sobre Tu Tumba ("I'll Dance on Your Grave")."These three films I've made are kind of a cycle, because they all talk about my family, adoptive and biological. But since I became a mother a few years ago, I feel that my place in the family changed. When you have kids you feel it's a new period in your life, so I feel like maybe doing something that has nothing to do with my family."Her next film, she confides, is going to be a flamenco musical.

The Deadly Israeli Drone Strikes Three Israeli drone strikes on cars on a major highway linking Beirut to southern Lebanon have killed at least eight people, including two children, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health reported. A photograph of the bombed cars shared by Lebanon’s National News Agency following the attacks on Wednesday in the Jiyeh area, some 20km (12 miles) south of the Lebanese capital, showed the vehicles severely damaged, their exteriors charred and torn apart. Escalating Conflict and Humanitarian Crisis Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Tyre in southern Lebanon, said the “conflict is only escalating”. “It is a conflict that is taking a high toll on the civilians who live in these areas,” she said. Lebanon and Israel are expected to hold a new round of direct negotiations in Washington on Thursday, brokered by the United States. Hezbollah, which has been launching attacks on northern Israel and on Israeli troops who have entered and occupied a section of southern Lebanon, says it opposes the negotiations in the US. The Humanitarian Toll On Wednesday morning, the Israeli military issued forced displacement orders for the residents of Meiss el-Jabal, Yanouh, Burj Shemali, Hula, Debl and Aabbasiyyeh, warning that it will soon act against these six southern Lebanese villages “forcefully”. Anyone who remains “endangers their life,” the military said, warning residents to move at least 1,000 metres (0.6 miles) away to “open areas”. After this new round of forced displacement orders – which have been happening almost daily in the past week – Al Jazeera’s Khodr said one of the few remaining hospitals in the area was in the displacement zone. At least 100,000 people still live in the district of Tyre. 13 people were killed in attacks on towns in the south on Tuesday. Two Lebanese Civil Defence paramedics were among the dead. At least 380 people have been killed during the truce. The total death toll since the Israeli invasion and bombardment began on March 2 is more than 2,800. 108 emergency medical services and healthcare workers have been killed in Lebanon during the war. The Future Outlook “All of this is having a huge impact here on the communities in southern Lebanon,” Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto said from Tyre. “And there is a growing humanitarian crisis, with over a million people displaced.”

The Recent Tremors A series of nine small earthquakes struck the Pardis area east of Tehran overnight, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday, renewing fears among experts and residents that the Iranian capital could face a major seismic disaster. Concerns Over Accumulated Tectonic Pressure The repeated activity has revived concerns that accumulated tectonic pressure beneath and around the capital, which lies close to several active fault lines, could at some point in the future trigger a much larger earthquake. The Mosha Fault: A Major Seismic Zone The tremors, recorded over a single night in eastern Tehran province, were felt in an area close to the Mosha fault, one of Iran’s most active seismic zones. The fault, about 150km (93 miles) in length, is one of the major active faults of the country, located approximately 40km (25 miles) from the capital. No Casualties or Damage Reported State media reported that the magnitude of one of the earthquakes was 4.6, but the mild seismic activity did not cause casualties or material damage. Warnings of Future Risk Semi-official Mehr news agency quoted seismologist Mehdi Zare as saying it was not clear whether the tremors represented a release of built-up seismic energy that would reduce future risk or instead were warning signs of stronger future activity along the fault system near Tehran. Zare warned that Tehran’s vulnerability is amplified not only by active fault lines but also by dense urban development, population concentration and limited preparedness. He said even relatively small earthquakes can cause disruption in the capital due to fragile infrastructure and congestion, complicating emergency response. Tehran's Vulnerability Tehran, a metropolitan area of more than 14 million people, lies near major active faults, including the North Tehran, Mosha and Rey. Iranian experts have repeatedly warned that a major earthquake near Tehran could have catastrophic consequences. Iran is among the world’s most quake-prone countries, and memories remain vivid of the 2003 Bam earthquake, which killed more than 30,000 people.

The Artist's Journey Through Love and LossFalling in and then out of love is a universal experience that often brings sadness, grief and heartbreak, and with time, hope and healing. Photographer Diana Markosian used her camera lens to document these complex feelings in her new project, Replaced.She brings the viewer on her journey of having, losing and reclaiming love, in a project that blurs documentary and fiction. "[The moments] no longer existed in the way they had, and I wanted to reclaim them," she says. "I wanted to feel that I could exist in my own story again."Recreating Intimate Moments Through ArtTo document their relationship, Markosian and her team worked with an actor to play her ex-partner. Each intimate image from the series, taken over three months, is a replica of an exact moment once shared with her ex and now shared between her and the actor. Her connection to him deliberately led to his being cast as her partner in the series so that the experience would feel as real as possible.With the actor, she visited Miami, Paris, Naples, Capri and Nice, all places she had once traveled to with her ex-partner. "These locations carry an existing weight of romantic myth," she says. "They are already shaped by cultural narratives of love, desire and idealized experience."The Emotional Toll of ReenactmentShe stayed at the same hotels and did the activities they had once done together, describing the experience as painful but cathartic. "It hurts so much, watching myself be replaced, watching those memories erased, and I didn't want to live in this any more," she says. "I'm so grateful that the project happened quickly."One of the most tender moments she recreates with the model appears in an image of them seated in a bathtub, holding one another with a red light glowing around them. Their vulnerability allows the viewer to reflect on a delicate moment between two people whose past love no longer exists, fostering empathy and prompting the audience to reflect on their own past relationships.Art as a Tool for Processing EmotionsCreating these intimate photographs enabled her to contemplate her journey. "I wanted to acknowledge how these same spaces can be reoccupied," she says, before adding: "If anything, [the project] just showed me how much I loved this person."For the past 16 years, Markosian has not let go of her camera, often using it to reach back and understand her past. "Art has given me a way of processing. I was studying writing, and suddenly found myself holding a camera and not wanting to let go of it; it became just a friend in my life," she says.A Career Built on Memory and ReconnectionShe first picked up a camera at 20, during graduate school at Columbia University. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she wanted to see the world, so she moved back to Moscow, Russia, where she was born. There she taught herself how to use the camera.Today, her lens serves as a tool for reconnecting with her past life and reclaiming it as her own. In her previous, highly regarded photo monograph Inventing My Father, she demonstrates her unique ability to reveal the unseen past through her images. Working on the book for 10 years, she depicts her journey of finding her father after 15 years of no contact, following her move to California in 1996 from Armenia, where he lives."Father, my previous work of the past decade, it's all rooted in memory, and I think what's beautiful about memory, there's a blend of fiction, interpretation, and it's very subjective," she says. "So I think I love existing in that territory because none of it is really real."

The Passing of a TrailblazerJason Collins, the first openly gay active player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), has died at the age of 47 after battling cancer. His family confirmed the news in a statement, describing his fight against glioblastoma as "valiant." Collins revealed his diagnosis in September 2025, disclosing he had stage four glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.A Career in Professional BasketballThe 7-foot center (2.13 meters) played 13 seasons in the NBA, making significant contributions to several teams. Selected 18th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2001 draft, he was traded to the New Jersey Nets on draft night. Collins also played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, and Washington Wizards.Collins helped the Nets reach back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 alongside teammates Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson, showcasing his value as a professional athlete.A Historic Moment in SportsIn April 2013, Collins made headlines when he became the first active male athlete in one of North America's four major professional sports leagues to publicly come out as gay. His decision was announced in a first-person essay in Sports Illustrated, which received widespread support across the sports world.Former United States President Barack Obama publicly praised Collins' courage, stating that he "couldn't be prouder" of Collins for taking this step. His coming out represented a significant milestone for LGBTQ+ representation in professional sports.Enduring Legacy and Impact"Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar," his family said in their statement. "Our family will miss him dearly."Arn Tellem, Collins' former agent and current vice chairman of the Detroit Pistons, emphasized the lasting impact of his decision to come out: "Jason's legacy stands as a beacon for tolerance, dignity, respect, inclusion, compassion, and understanding. He left this world better than he found it."The Future of LGBTQ+ Representation in SportsCollins' passing comes at a time when LGBTQ+ representation in professional sports continues to evolve. His courageous decision to come out in 2013 paved the way for other athletes to be open about their identities without fear of professional repercussions. As sports organizations continue to promote diversity and inclusion, Collins' legacy will undoubtedly continue to influence future generations of athletes.

The Lead US President Donald Trump departed for Beijing on Tuesday for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying the two leaders would hold a 'long talk' on Iran even as trade remains the main focus of the visit. Iran's Stance on Peace Iran presses US on peace proposal: Iran's chief negotiator and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Washington must accept Tehran's latest peace plan or face failure. Report says Iran retains missile strength: The New York Times reported Tuesday that classified US intelligence assessments say Iran still has substantial missile capabilities, with about 70 percent of its mobile launchers and pre-war missile stockpile still in action. War Diplomacy Chinese supertanker crosses Hormuz: Chinese crude oil supertanker Yuan Hua Hu was reportedly transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, ship-tracking data showed, passing Iran's Larak Island while heading out of the Gulf. Hezbollah rules out disarmament talks: Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said his group's weapons were not part of forthcoming ceasefire negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. Qatar warns over Hormuz pressure: Qatar's prime minister said Iran should not use the Strait of Hormuz, blocked since early in the war, as a means of 'blackmail' against Gulf states. The Gulf UAE gas facility hit by war: The UAE's main gas processing complex, one of the world's largest, will not resume full capacity until next year, its operator said, after it was hit in the Iran war. Kuwait arrests alleged IRGC operatives: The country said it arrested four men accused of belonging to Iran's IRGC after they tried to infiltrate Bubiyan Island by sea and injured a Kuwaiti soldier. In the US Trump on Xi: Trump said he does not believe the US needs China's help to end the war involving Iran, but confirmed the issue would still feature in his talks with Xi Jinping this week. Trump says war's end will bring down inflation: Facing growing domestic pressure over rising prices linked to the conflict, Trump said the war 'will not be long' and argued its end would trigger a sharp drop in oil prices and inflation. US says Iran war has cost $29bn: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the war has cost Washington at least $29bn in munitions and equipment over 74 days, excluding damage to bases. The Impact Analysis The ongoing conflict in Iran has significant implications for the global economy, with rising oil prices and inflation being major concerns. The war has also led to a humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands of students displaced and schools destroyed in Lebanon. The Prediction The future outlook for the conflict in Iran remains uncertain, with both sides showing no signs of backing down. However, with growing domestic pressure and international diplomacy, there is a possibility that the conflict could be resolved peacefully in the near future.

The Lead: A High-Stakes Diplomatic Encounter Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to seek concessions on Taiwan and US tariffs when he meets United States President Donald Trump for a critical summit taking place in the shadow of the war on Iran. Trump's arrival in China marks the first trip by a US leader to the country since 2017, setting the stage for what could be a pivotal moment in US-China relations. The Taiwan Confrontation: Core Interest and Red Lines Unlike Trump's mercurial policymaking approach, Xi is widely seen as predictable in his goals for the summit, particularly concerning Beijing's "core interests" related to national security and territorial integrity. At the top of that list is Taiwan, which Beijing views as an inalienable part of its territory despite Taiwan's self-governing status. China has named Taiwan as the first of "four red lines" that "must not be challenged." In a call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described Taiwan as "the biggest risk in the China-US relationship." While analysts say it's unlikely the US will change its position on Taiwan due to Chinese pressure, Trump has indicated the summit will include discussions about the $14bn arms package approved by Congress for Taiwan. The Trade War Dynamics: Economic Uncertainty and Strategic Maneuvering Xi is also eager to smooth over US-China relations after a tumultuous 18 months that saw Trump launch a second trade war with the world's second-largest economy. The standoff saw both countries implement escalating tariffs and punitive measures, including export controls, before hitting pause in May. During their last meeting in South Korea in October, Xi and Trump agreed to a one-year reprieve in their trade war, though some trade measures remain in place. China is likely to agree to increase purchases of US agricultural exports and Boeing planes during the summit, but is unlikely to make concessions on rare earths—a sector it dominates—without major political trade-offs from the US. The Geopolitical Chessboard: Iran Conflict and Global Implications The US-Israel war on Iran will loom large over the summit. Although not a direct participant, China has been significantly impacted by the economic fallout of the conflict and the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil and natural gas supplies typically pass. Beijing has consistently called for negotiations and a comprehensive ceasefire since the conflict began, a message Xi is likely to reiterate. Despite Trump stating he doesn't need China's "help" resolving the war, the White House has pressured Beijing to influence Iran to reopen the strait. China has maintained a "comprehensive strategic partnership" with Iran since 2016 and purchases more than 80% of its oil, though Xi is expected to limit China's role to mediation, consistent with its non-intervention foreign policy principle. The Future of US-China Relations: Strategic Adjustments and Long-term Planning For Beijing, the stakes are particularly high as its view of Trump has shifted from a "predictable transactional counterpart" to a "more action-oriented and harder-to-restrain opponent." Rather than securing immediate concessions, China's priority is "trying to adjust the current strategic position and negotiating pace that are unfavorable to it, and bring US-China interactions back into a framework that it can better control." Xi may also support Trump's plan to create a "Board of Trade" and "Board of Investment" to oversee US-China economic ties, as Beijing seeks predictability and certainty for the remainder of Trump's term through January 2029. This stability would allow China to plan its own economic policies with greater confidence, particularly regarding tariff levels and trade relationships.

The Cultural Phenomenon Returns On a chilly morning at a Silvertown studio behind London City airport, the sunburst intro to Jimmy Cliff's The Harder They Come is on repeat. Dancers run through a routine studded with reggae and dancehall moves. "Get high," commands associate choreographer Neisha-yen Jones with a smile. "Get low!" The ensemble rise and dip. They do the bogle and whine around each other as their watchful director Matthew Xia nods along. They circle Natey Jones who breaks out the opening line: "Well, they tell me of a pie up in the sky." In the distance, a plane leaves the ground. From Film to Theatrical Celebration It's eight months since The Harder They Come's full-throttle takeoff at Stratford East, where the musical was so popular that it is now returning for a second run which will also serve as a eulogy for Cliff who died in November. Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks' adaptation of Perry Henzell's 1972 Jamaican film is bolstered by a handful of her own songs as well as classics including Israelites and Wonderful World, Beautiful People – plus every number on the film's monumental soundtrack. Jones is reprising the role of Ivan (played on screen by Cliff and inspired by real-life outlaw Rhyging), who arrives in Kingston from the country and is dismissed and exploited, before becoming both a hit singer and a fugitive. The Evolution of a Cultural Narrative The original was akin to cinéma vérité, directly evoked spaghetti westerns and veered into blaxploitation territory; Ivan's tale has gained greater warmth, humour and protest spirit on stage. It was the best musical I saw in 2025. "The story is a tragedy but the theatrical event is a celebration," says Xia of his production. Twenty years ago, the film was adapted as a musical with a book by Henzell, also at Stratford East. "It all started at Ivan's Nine Night," Xia recalls. "There was a massive poster of Ivan on the wall, with everyone coming, and it was told in retrospect with vignettes." Choreography and Cultural Connection Shelley Maxwell, recently arrived from Jamaica, was watching the musical in the audience one night and has since become the choreographer of the new production. She has fused the folk dance forms of revivalism and pocomania, learned in her childhood, with reggae, dancehall and moves that today's teenagers can recognise. "I wanted to tap into the youth market," she says. It's brought some enthusiastic feedback from audience members who may not know the film. "Like: 'Oh my God, they did that step I always do at a party!' It allows them to form a connection." Authenticity and Cultural Representation Xia, wearing trainers in the Jamaican flag's colours, and Maxwell, whose tracksuit has the same black, green and gold trim, were intent on instantly transporting their audience to Kingston. The opening, says the director, is an "establishing shot" with characters coming and going on Simon Kenny's magnificent multi-level set, accompanied by Toots and the Maytals' hit Funky Kingston. To borrow from its lyrics, you really can believe everything they do. Even each move in the dominoes game we see is scripted, explains Maxwell, who mapped out the market scene with precision: "Where are you going to? How heavy is the item that you're holding? This is the swing of the hips." Social Commentary Through Performance Xia, whose father came to England from Jamaica in the 1970s, praises the freewheeling realism of the film. "Lots of the background performers are just whoever happened to be in the market that day, or walking through the shantytown. Lots of the actors were people that Perry knew, they had no training." Henzell, says Xia, showed "the part of Jamaica that had always been hidden, people living hand to mouth". The musical depicts a "quartet of oppression" against Ivan, as he takes a stand against individuals representing hypocrisies of the church, law, drugs trade and music industry. Universal Themes and Contemporary Relevance The Harder They Come was both a pioneering example of independent film-making for Jamaicans and a portrait of a newly independent country. Maxwell, who grew up glued to Hollywood musicals, says it was empowering to discover a film full of the Jamaican songs she loved. "I was probably way too young when I saw it. But what I saw was the world around me." She traces how different forms of music played a pivotal part in the country establishing its identity, moving from African forms and American R&B; to mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae and the rise of Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff. Maxwell captures that chain reaction with a tantalizing question: "What's this groove becoming?" Transforming the Narrative for Modern Audiences The musical also makes its hero's actions more understandable. "In the film, Ivan becomes a kind of wanton murderer," says Xia. In the musical, "he accidentally shoots a police officer when he's under threat, is remorseful, yet also knows that if he gives himself in then that's the end of his journey". Another significant change is the depth given to the principal women – Ivan's mother Daisy and Elsa, with whom he falls in love under the eye of her authoritarian guardian, the preacher. "The moral heart of the piece now resides in those two women," says Xia. Maxwell transforms a brief sequence from the film, in which Ivan imagines a tryst with the devout Elsa, into a floor-trembling set piece when the preacher's congregation lose their robes to indulge in lustful fantasy. The male gaze of the original scene is duly excised: "it had to be like it was both of them in partnership in that fantasy world," says Maxwell, who adds that the nature of dancehall – "grinding, gyrating on another body" required her to use her skillset as an intimacy director.

The LeadVictor Wembanyama returned from suspension with a dominant performance, scoring 27 points and grabbing 17 rebounds to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a commanding 126-97 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The win gives the Spurs a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series, positioning them one win away from advancing to the conference finals.The Wembanyama RedemptionWembanyama's return was highly anticipated after he was ejected in Game 4 for elbowing an opponent, which resulted in an automatic suspension. The young star expressed his eagerness to return, saying "Very, very much" when asked how anxious he was to get back on the court. He delivered in spectacular fashion, scoring 16 of the Spurs' first 24 points and finishing with a double-double in just the first half alone (21 points, 11 rebounds)."I think one thing, the one word I'd like to use, just 'mature,'" Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of Wembanyama. "There's a lot that's happened in the last 48 hours, in the last game, and I think how that young man came out tonight and played in a variety of ways, in a variety of situations, not just in terms of his production, was extremely mature and then defensively, start to finish."The Statistical BreakdownThe Spurs received balanced scoring beyond Wembanyama's performance:Keldon Johnson: 21 points off the benchDe'Aaron Fox: 18 pointsStephon Castle: 17 pointsDevin Vassell: 12 pointsDylan Harper: 12 points, 10 reboundsFor the Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards led with 20 points, while Jaden McDaniels and Julius Randle each had 17 points. Ayo Dosunmu contributed 16 points and Naz Reid added 12.The Spurs led by as many as 18 points in the second quarter before settling for a 12-point advantage at halftime. After Minnesota tied the game at 61-all early in the third quarter, San Antonio responded with a 30-12 run to take control of the game.The Series ImplicationsThis victory gives the Spurs significant momentum and a 3-2 series lead. The team showed resilience and maturity, particularly from their young star Wembanyama, who channeled his frustration from Game 4 into a dominant performance."We played with the appropriate fear, discipline, execution, physicality, poise," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "And I thought we had it from an array of people tonight, and it was really good to see. We needed everybody, because at different moments of the game, different guys stepped up."The Timberwolves, meanwhile, struggled with consistency, particularly on defense. "We went away from what was working, and then, you know, defence just cratered," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "In the last six minutes of the third quarter, lot of it was just ball contain stuff. And, you know, offensively found stuff that was working, then we just started breaking off plays, you know. And that's my job. I gotta get us back on track. That's on me."The Path ForwardThe series now shifts to Minneapolis for Game 6 on Friday, with the Timberwolves facing elimination. If necessary, Game 7 would be back in San Antonio on Sunday."I don't see nobody in our locker room that [is] worried at the end of the day," Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said. "Man, it's another basketball game. So you come out, put your boots on and get ready to go work."