The San Antonio Spurs suffered a major setback Monday night as All-Star guard Manu Ginobli broke a bone in his right hand and is expected to be out for four to six weeks. It happened midway through the second quarter and was the turning point in the game, as the Spurs lost their defensive focus and ultimately could not keep up with Minnesota’s hot shooting, losing the game 106-96.

The loss of Ginobli is a huge blow to the Spurs who had centered their entire offense around the multi-talented Argentinian this year. The Spurs medical staff reported he had broken the fifth metatarsal bone on his shooting hand and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks.

His absence obviously means more minutes for younger players like James Anderson and TJ Ford, but also means a major revamping of the offensive scheme. No Ginobli also throws a monkey-wrench in Coach Pop’s long-tern plan to keep down the playing time of his veteran players like Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, who are now almost certainly going to have to log more minutes in order for the Spurs to stay competitive.

Beating San Antonio the night after they broke their 18-game losing streak is a major accomplishment for the Timberwolves. That kind of emotional resilience demonstrates that the Rick Adelman system is already taking hold in Minnesota and augurs well for the talented young team.

The Timberwolves started off hot and dominated the first quarter 35-25. The Spurs responded to the loss of Ginobli in the second, and cut it to a seven point lead at half. But the Timberwolves shooting remained hot, and eventually proved too much for the Spurs as they coasted to a 10 point win with both teams looking tired in the fourth.

The Spurs were led by Tim Duncan and Richard Jefferson with 16 each. Tony Parker with 11 and Tiago Splitter with 12 points were the only other Spurs in double figures. Minnesota Forward Kevin love continued his breakout year, with 24 points and 15 rebounds. Luke Ridenour also chipped in 19 points and 9 assists. Ricky Rubio had an off night with just six points and three assists.

San Antonio moves to 3-2 on the season with the loss. The Spurs have Tuesday off and then travel to California to play the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.