Analysis GRADES: 12/13/25 NBA CUP SEMIFINAL | SPURS 111 v THUNDER 109

[scott]

SPURS ADVANCE TO CUP FINAL, IMPROVE TO 18-7


Scott's Notes:

• Has a pre-Christmas game ever had this much hype AND delivered a great game? Wow.
• The Rivalry is here folks. This is the next 5+ years of the NBA we just witnessed tonight. It's over for the rest of the league. Sorry about whatever window you thought you had, everyone else.
• I'm maybe a little overly proud of this analogy so I apologize for repeating it... but to me this game was the tale of Rocky IV. The Thunder (Ivan Drago) has been an unbeatable force, out to not just defeat their opponents but to destroy them. In the first quarter, Drago (OKC) hits us in a way we haven't felt before and it shakes us... but in the 2nd quarter we fight back and we make Drago bleed for the first time. Mitch Johnson is in the huddle as Duke: You cut him! You hurt him! You see? He's not a machine, he's a man! From there, we keep fighting and just like the Russian crowd in Rocky IV, we win the crowd over as well and deliver the stunning upset. USA! USA! USA!
• On a more serious note...
• Wemby... man... how is it possible to have seen something even more impressive than Opening Night Wemby? Conspiracy Theory: Wemby wasn't injured at all, he just had to return to spend time with the Shaolin Monks to recenter himself after a couple of teams "figured him out". Wemby has definitely come back with a new swagger that we haven't seen before. The flexing, pointing, confidence is next level. Wemby is a psychopath out there, in all the ways that benefit us.
• Big Game Dev strikes again! Yeah, he hit some big 3s but I want to take a minute to give this man his flowers for his defense tonight. In addition to that big block on SGA (when have you ever seen a guard to that to SGA?!?) he played him tough throughout the game and made him work for his points when matched up on Dev.
• Fox was fantastic, providing scoring when it was needed but also by being a calming presence but also a tempo creator. People are talking about how Fox isn't as fast as they were expecting... I think that's all wrong. Fox is just as fast, he just knows when the time to be fast is and when the time to calm it down is. Several times this year, and again last night, he made big time passes to advance the ball far up the court. That is another way to play with speed without just being fast. Only 1 TO (a lob to Wemby that was just 2 inches too low) in a game where taking care of the ball was at a premium.
• Stephon is a grown ass man. I love this dude. Bloodied up and making big shots when it matters. Also of note is that Steph's 3 ball has looked a lot better the last two games. It's too early to say anything else about it for now... but worth pointing out.
• Speaking of 3s... back to Devin and De'Aaron... both of them hit big late 3s and both did it with ZERO hesitation. They are decisive and confident. That swagger is huge.
• Barnes was ice cold, but he did actually provide some good rebounding and playmaking. He'll bounce back. I expect him to have a good game against the Knicks. No one keeps Unc down.
• Champ played great D and was strong on the boards, which is why I gave him a 4. He found ways to contribute other than scoring.
• People were questioning Mitch's 1st half usage of Wemby... but the man had a plan all along. Big Brain Mitch is evolving in real time.
• This is a TEAM! The joy on everyone's face coming into the tunnel. Those end of bench guys didn't make it into the shortened rotation tonight, but they are a big part of this team and deserve this.
• I'm booked to be at the Final on Tuesday and I am PUMPED. GSG!

What You Said:

• @ginobilized - I'm trying not to put too much weight on one game, but, that was one helluva basketball game against a Championship team that is firing on all cylinders.I cannot recall being more pumped for a Spurs win since the glory days of the Big 3. Castle, Wemby and Harper had 14 turnovers, the same number as OKC as a team. HB, KJ and Champ were not exactly stuffing the stat sheet. And we won. First off, that was an incredible defensive effort and it showed that this coaching staff had the players prepared and it was incredible to see Harper and Castle force late shot clock decisions against Shai. So exciting to see that we can play D at this level at this point of our evolution. Of course, Wemby is going to be the insane monster that he is on that end. His clutch play and trash talk were a thing of beauty to behold. KG must be pretty pumped watching that game. Harper contributed and got schooled a bit which is perfect for his growth. Now we need to run the Knicks off the court.
• @jeebus - 5s for everyone, even HB with an off night. Fantastic game. I spent it on Reddit in the NBA sub, and it was absolutely hilarious watching thousands of people from other fanbases root for the Spurs and shit on OKC and their fanbase. Spurs were the Avengers last night.
• @Area 51.247 - Beat the best, everybody got a 5.
• @Davidicus - Everyone got about a point higher than box score might suggest because the defense and hustle was the best I’ve seen all year. Mini playoff game and our boys came to play. Even Fox and Vassell were super hustling on D.
• @brazil - Not my quote.. but a nice one nothing better than an alien to take care of the thunder
• @Robz4000 - Best win in a season full of them (arguably the franchise's best win since 2019). Spurs aren't a true threat to OKC this year most likely, but tonight definitely showed they will be soon tbh.
• @spurraider21 - I'm giving 5s to Wemby and Vassell. Wemby didn't play a clean game, but I'm grading him on a curve given it is his first action in a month in a high stakes spot. Yeah he turned it over but he absolutely warped the game when on the court. He was clutch. He brought us back into the game twice. Vassell's shotmaking was huge in a game where our other shooters werent hitting shots, and he was ultra competitive defensively.
• @heyheymymy - Coach Mitch did a great job managing the Wemby situation.
• @Correct Crusader - BIG. GAME. VASSELL.....
• @LeBowen -
• Everyone gets +1 because it's the most difficult matchup of the season. Invaluable lesson for Castle and Harper, they were too careless with the ball. Wemby obviously did his thing, Fox was clearly the second best player. Is Devin actually clutch?

 

[Correct Crusader]

Such a good defensive game from our guys. It's good to see the voters & scott understood that even though players like Julian and Harper had poor shooting nights they made up for it elsewhere.

BIG. GAME. VASSELL.

 

[jeebus]

GOTY. When a two years ago or even last year, this would've been a 30+ point loss for the Spurs.

Job's not finished. /Kirby

 

[Guru of Nothing]

Champ looking good as small ball power forward.

 

[spurs10]

Have a killer time at the game. It's a big game for December!! What!!??

 

[Corso]

An absolute game for the ages.

If this game happened late in the playoffs it would be put in a documentary and called Legendary.

This Spurs team has so much fight in them and Wemby returning was a shot in the arm of Vitamin Ass-Kicking.

 

[Em-City]

The lack of trust in the game thread when it came to Mitch's plan was startling. Saving wemby for the latter part of the game was a ballsy, genius move, and let the rest of the team know that the trust is there for them to do their part as well. It was evident that when wemby came on, everyone else elevated to another level in both play and confidence.


Chief crow-servers last night were Mitch and Devin.

 

[scott]

This is what ChatGPT thinks Mitch and Devin look like, apparently

 

[Corso]

Is Mitch the severed head, or the whole crow?

 

[PhantomDashCam]

Great game and a great win.
I expect we will be favourites for the first time in a while against the Knicks in the final.
Still have a job to do. Let’s get this!

 

[ffadicted]

Barnes ending up with almost a 3, everybody must be feelin real generous and happy after that win
Other than Wemby obv, biggest factor & surprise for me was Mitch. We started off horribly, he didnt panic and overuse Wemby, put him in at key moments of the game, kept him fresh for the end, and coached our guys through a tough win under bright lights after some of the worst shooting in the season. And the fouling up 3 didn't quite heal my 2013 PTSD, but it did make me proud

Well done lad

 

[Fireball]

thx for the grades ... Castle had way too many turnovers to get a 5 ... he really should become more of a cutter and leave the ballhandling to Fox and Harper

 

[024]

Still a lot of room for improvement for this young team (Castle turnovers, Wemby decision making on dribbling through traffic or smaller guards, shooting in general). But amazing to see them still pull out a win against the best team in the league in a high stakes regular season game.

Really like how players are finding their roles and playing well within those bounds. Keldon and Vassell are finally providing positive value. As for Sochan, I think he'll continue to get limited minutes without a reliable 3 point shot and consistent defense + rebounding.

 

[100%Duncan]

Dev and Wemby are 6s in my book.

 

[CrustyCoastBendFan]

The biggest revelation of this game for me was seeing the team respond to coaching, putting together a solid third quarter against the so-called boogeyman, the OKC Thunder — allegedly the best team in basketball history. So this is a Mitch win. Wemby was just backing up his trash talk and fulfilling expectations. What were Mitch’s expectations when taking over for Pop, or heading into his rookie coaching season? Certainly not “generational.” This team was expected to qualify for the play-in without Wemby, Castle, or Harper missing games. To reach this point despite all those absences is kind of putting Mitch ahead of Pop in his rookie season, which was 21s rookie year—not the Game of Thrones-style beheading of Bob Hill.

"who cares if 50 is hurt"

"Were TANKING for DUNCAN"


It will all come out in the wash, as they say. Just my random thought right now at this moment.

 

[brazil]

One thing to highlight is that after a serie of games with a total 3rd quarters meltdown, coaching and spurs for sure looked at solving this issue. They played a solid 3rd against the Lakers and against OKC, that's a good job done here

 

[CrustyCoastBendFan]

One thing to highlight is that after a serie of games with a total 3rd quarters meltdown, coaching and spurs for sure looked at solving this issue. They played a solid 3rd against the Lakers and against OKC, that's a good job done here

Joe Mazzulla took Ime Udoka’s NBA Finals team and became only the 5th rookie head coach to win a title. If Mitch can pull it off this year with this team, I’d say that makes him better than Pop. I don’t have super high standards and enjoy poking fun with gifs and comments, but I think he’s better because he fouled up by 4 with under 2 minutes left to lock in the OKC win.
Message boards are all about fun hot takes, and my tongue is always firmly in my cheek.

Never the less

Game BALL to Mitch on this game. A+++++

 

[John B]

Thanks for the grades. Easily the most satisfying win this season, and that after eliminating LeBron’s team at Staples in lopsided victory. This win showed 1. OKC is human, 2. The Spurs have arrived and here to stay, 3. Mitch and company can coach against the best of them! Wemby and Co have smelled blood and want more. I expect them to approach all games hereafter with focus and reason to win. My Spurs are back! GSG!

 

[Exstatic]

thx for the grades ... Castle had way too many turnovers to get a 5 ... he really should become more of a cutter and leave the ballhandling to Fox and Harper

Against OKC, you need his fullback mentality. I trust him getting to the hole against that team than the other two. When OKC goes hatchet mode, I want the ball in his hands. Besides, OKC turns over a lot of good players.

 

[LeBowen]

Against OKC, you need his fullback mentality. I trust him getting to the hole against that team than the other two. When OKC goes hatchet mode, I want the ball in his hands. Besides, OKC turns over a lot of good players.

I think 3 (or was it 2) of Castle's turnovers were a product of him deciding he can't go up for a layup and trying to pass it back out while in mid-air.
His ball-security wasn't that bad, it's just that those passes were too obvious and easy to read.
I think Mitch will tell him it's better to take a low percentage layup than make such erratic passes that often end up in an easy fastbreak for the opposition.

 

[Em-City]

I would love to hear @Chinook 's perspective after what could be a turning point for the Wemby era

 

[jeebus]

The lack of trust in the game thread when it came to Mitch's plan was startling. Saving wemby for the latter part of the game was a ballsy, genius move, and let the rest of the team know that the trust is there for them to do their part as well. It was evident that when wemby came on, everyone else elevated to another level in both play and confidence.


Chief crow-servers last night were Mitch and Devin.

Yup, the reddit nba thread was the same, but split about halfway. Some knew Wemby wouldn't show in the first and were cursing Mitch, others caught on to the game plan. Then he did it great for the 4Q, having Wemby play the start and the finish. It was perfect.