Game Thread Spurs (12-5) @ Nuggets (13-4) (Fri 11/28/25) [8:30PM CDT]

[sKiN20]

Great win!! Tbh

 

[Arcadian]

Oh, so we can win without 2 of our top 3 players against good teams now. Cool.

 

[Arcadian]

Vassell just did to Denver what Curry did to us.

 

[Spurts2014]

I've been a fan long enough (30 years) to know when not to waste my time.

This guy does plenty of other things prematurely too, I'm sure.

 

[NASpurs]

This guy does plenty of other things prematurely too, I'm sure.

Yeah I should’ve pulled out early on your mom. You were a mistake.

 

[spurraider21]

anybody else notice throughout the year how easily Fox executes these types of flare passes? like the one at 1:50 below. he's the only guy on the team who consistently is able to make this pass, and every time he throws these i think its going to be a turnover but he just makes them effortless. pay enough attention and you see he does this quite a bit

 

[Paramore]

BREAKING: The San Antonio Spurs are hiring Manu Ginobili as assistant coach.

Ginobili is expected to play a key role in developing the Spurs’ young backcourt, including Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, per league sources. >>>Guys, is this news legit?????

 

[timtonymanu]

Spurs have zero chance at doing anything to Jokic to slow him tbh. With Gordon and Braun out the best chance is to just go small and save Kornet for Big Val imo. Calling my shot again: this will be a Keldon and Sochan game.

It was indeed a Keldon game.

 

[Fireball]

Wow! Fuck all the guys who switched off at halftime. So fuck myself but I live in Europe so I got a better excuse.

So you need lifetime games by Vassell and Julien to beat the Nuggets. Good stuff. And now a good chance for the Spurs to compete in these KO Cup Games.

 

[Fireball]

BREAKING: The San Antonio Spurs are hiring Manu Ginobili as assistant coach.

Ginobili is expected to play a key role in developing the Spurs’ young backcourt, including Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, per league sources. >>>Guys, is this news legit?????

I do not see any evidence. Would be a weird in-season move as well.

 

[TBdog]

Oh, so we can win without 2 of our top 3 players against good teams now. Cool.

Yeah, but Nuggets are down players too. But they still had Jokic and Murray. So a great win.

 

[Quentin_Compson]

"Flies in the Vasselline we are /
Sometimes it blows my mind"

 

[RC_Drunkford]

BREAKING: The San Antonio Spurs are hiring Manu Ginobili as assistant coach.

Ginobili is expected to play a key role in developing the Spurs’ young backcourt, including Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, per league sources. >>>Guys, is this news legit?????

Manu has been on the coaching staff for years. That‘s old news

 

[John B]

Was this the Devin Vassell we’ve been waiting for? Clutch and professional scorer (yes we have Fox also for that). A lot of people here, including myself, was starting to have have just plain catch and shoot guy, avoiding the eventual hard-to-make shots. But tonight he was going at it with Murray with gusto! Damn

 

[LeBowen]

We beat Denver and we're 4-1 without Wemby. (and Castle)
Fox, friendship crew, a few veterans, a few reclamation projects and a few rookies.
Something doesn't add up.

Add up in the sense that even though we were around .500 before Wemby went down last season, a lot of our losses were horrible, unwatchable blowouts.
We're 18 games into this season and our worst loss was a 12 point game, the only double digit loss we suffered. And haven't had a fully healthy roster yet.

My question is what changed? Was Pop that far gone? Are Mitch and the new assistants making all the difference?
During the game last night I never felt like it's over and we won't be able to consolidate and put up a fight.
And that's honestly the biggest takeaway from the season so far. Being able to stay competitive in every game is huge.

 

[CGD]

We beat Denver and we're 4-1 without Wemby. (and Castle)
Fox, friendship crew, a few veterans, a few reclamation projects and a few rookies.
Something doesn't add up.

Add up in the sense that even though we were around .500 before Wemby went down last season, a lot of our losses were horrible, unwatchable blowouts.
We're 18 games into this season and our worst loss was a 12 point game, the only double digit loss we suffered. And haven't had a fully healthy roster yet.

My question is what changed? Was Pop that far gone? Are Mitch and the new assistants making all the difference?
During the game last night I never felt like it's over and we won't be able to consolidate and put up a fight.
And that's honestly the biggest takeaway from the season so far. Being able to stay competitive in every game is huge.

Fox helps tbh.

 

[Davidicus]

Boxscore Betty here who stopped looking at mid 3rd qtr.
Was -15 from the middle of the 2nd quarter till middle 3rd.
How in the H did the Spurs pull that out?

I had to go back and watch the 3rd to figure out what happened. Sneaks up on you. Was definitely not a 15-0 run.

Biggest reason: Champagnie. He had TWELVE points in the 3rd, with 3 rebounds, 2 of which were huge. Kelly also had 7pts with a big 3 and some scrappy smart plays. Fox had 4 assists.

In the 3rd, Denver scored 30pts (!) but had 5 TOs, which let us in. We scored 44!

Also explains the super wonky +/-. All the positives were guys in the third during that run. Have to call out Sochan and Bryant for playing above average D. Keldon had 4 rebounds. Kornet Harper Barnes all put in clutch points. Devin finished -14 because he only played 5 min in the third (3pts on 1/1 + 1ast). Across all 4 quarters his point totals were 7/7/3/18.

 

[spursfanfromafar]

It isn't rocket science.

1. A full training camp with a coach who has taken his licks after a losing season as interim coach helps. Getting his own staff who are in line with his philosophy helps.
2. Focusing on aggressive defense even if it increases fouling seems to be Mitch's mantra. And it has paid off. Castle has been a revelation in this respect. But Devin, Keldon and Champs have also improved dramatically on defense. They work around screens more ..are in the face of the P&R/ iso handlers and have generally been more energetic than before.
3. Keeping 2-3 shooters on the court always has helped. It allows the Spurs to stay in the game and not let it drift away from them. Those three mentioned above plus Barnes again deserve recognition for maintaining their shooting (Vassel, Barnes) or improving it (Keldon and Champs).
4. The importance of good table setters has never been more significant than this season. Last year we were carried by the carcass of Chris Paul but that helped Castle pick the threads of what is to be done as a PG. He has been tremendous this season while Fox has been Fox-like after getting his injured finger mended. Harper has been a revelation and is a star in the making (the only rookie who has played decent minutes and been a net positive in EPM on both offense and defense). The three guards' downhill game, drive and kick and passing abilities have made the Spurs amazingly competitive.
5. Last but not the least..the backups to Wemby are way better than last season while Wemby himself has improved further.

This is a perfect storm for an improved season with Wemby's teammates realising how special thier lynchpin is and wanting to play together and accelerate his path to greatness.

This doesn't mean everything is hunky dory. Sochan has been disappointing and a flawed player. And injuries have limited the team.Hope all of it will come together even better when we have a full squad at the right time.

 

[LeBowen]

Fox helps tbh.

He's been getting us over the line, but he's not the reason we're not getting blown out anymore.
Wemby's backups are obviously a big upgrade, but last season we were getting blown out with Wemby while this season we're staying in games without him.

 

[OK Computer]

We beat Denver and we're 4-1 without Wemby. (and Castle)
Fox, friendship crew, a few veterans, a few reclamation projects and a few rookies.
Something doesn't add up.

Add up in the sense that even though we were around .500 before Wemby went down last season, a lot of our losses were horrible, unwatchable blowouts.
We're 18 games into this season and our worst loss was a 12 point game, the only double digit loss we suffered. And haven't had a fully healthy roster yet.

My question is what changed? Was Pop that far gone? Are Mitch and the new assistants making all the difference?
During the game last night I never felt like it's over and we won't be able to consolidate and put up a fight.
And that's honestly the biggest takeaway from the season so far. Being able to stay competitive in every game is huge.

All we needed was patience all along and not “KJ needs to go” threads, tbh.

 

[Sugus]

We beat Denver and we're 4-1 without Wemby. (and Castle)
Fox, friendship crew, a few veterans, a few reclamation projects and a few rookies.
Something doesn't add up.

Add up in the sense that even though we were around .500 before Wemby went down last season, a lot of our losses were horrible, unwatchable blowouts.
We're 18 games into this season and our worst loss was a 12 point game, the only double digit loss we suffered. And haven't had a fully healthy roster yet.

My question is what changed? Was Pop that far gone? Are Mitch and the new assistants making all the difference?
During the game last night I never felt like it's over and we won't be able to consolidate and put up a fight.
And that's honestly the biggest takeaway from the season so far. Being able to stay competitive in every game is huge.

I was about to throw some flowers to the unsung heroes of the night, and who are IMO the answer to your question: our new coaching staff.

Defensive rotation mishaps aside, this team really looks starkly different from last season's, in a way that just the new players doesn't explain. The players are clearly "tuned in" to the coaching directives, from the "next man up" mentality that's won us the road games, to the internal belief that they are good enough on a nightly basis, to keep fighting.

They were down like 16 points in the 3rd last night, and the Nugs seemed to be running with it -- last year's Spurs would have happily rolled over. But not this time. I didn't have the same "it's inevitable" feeling that I had in years past (the Game 7 against these same Nuggets from a few years ago comes to mind; we literally went down 10 points in the first Q and it never felt competitive afterwards, culminating in the team not even caring to foul Denver in the clutch).

It's just a different team. The PG situation finally being resolved is obviously another major aspect, but I can't say enough how big an impact these new coaches seem to be having. Love what I've seen from the team [defensive rotations notwithstanding].

 

[Sugus]

Also, it's not the same situation, but it reminds me of that Cade / Pistons clip from their 20-something losing streak, where Cade was like "no way we're 25 losses bad" or something. He had it right - the team was much better than their record, and they're showing it this season.

What major change did they undergo in that time? Dropping Monty Williams' pathetic coaching ass and hiring an actual coach with a plan (and a willingness to be there in the first place). And now they're an upcoming top team in the league.

Coaching matters, and whatever internet dweeb tells you otherwise doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about.

....which reminds me, where's Teeds nowadays? Did he ever make the jump from Spurstalk to here? I miss his idiotic and lowkey racist rants tbh

 

[CGD]

He's been getting us over the line, but he's not the reason we're not getting blown out anymore.
Wemby's backups are obviously a big upgrade, but last season we were getting blown out with Wemby while this season we're staying in games without him.

Fair enough. Kornett, Keldon, and Harper have been great off the bench this year, which keeps us competitive in those minutes. Keldon’s offensive rebounding is a sneaky underrated part of this. The national podcast-sphere gives Houston a lot of love for how they’re changing the game with o-rebounding this year (rightfully), but the spurs have to be up there too thanks to Keldon.

 

[OK Computer]

Mitch at the end says Julian, Dev, and Devin’s maturation is something the other you guys look up to.

That’s our “Big 3” below our “Big 4” of Wemby, Harper, Fox, Castle.

 

[Davidicus]

This was my previous comment on Vassell’s 23 point performance against the Blazers: “A nice night for Vassell, as the ball was going in. My trepidation is that this doesn’t happen every night. But when it does, everything is roses and daffodils.” I guess Devin read my comment and said F YOUR DAFFODILS. Seriously though, all the credit in the world to him. Big buckets including 2 game-sealing 3’s in the 4th. Pretty solid D. I’m not expecting him to sustain this, but praying for him that his valleys aren’t as low through this season.

Julian the Robin to Devin’s Batman. 25/10 with some absolutely clutch rebounds. Big shots. An amazing night for him, kudos. His growth is astounding.

Fox was due for a bad shooting night, I don’t blame him. 12 assists made up for it. He took some ill-advised shots but overall a decent night, found ways to contribute.

I thought Mitch had a great gameplan against Jokic. Double him with mobile wings and make their short-handed support system beat us. Jokic is the ultimate test of your team defense, I’d give us a B+. Plenty of room for improvement, but a win against Jokic in DEN is always very hard. Only 8 TOs as well.

On that note, gotta give Sochan and Bryant a lot of credit on D. They were given a tall order and delivered. Bryant hit some slutch shots. Sochan still a lot of facepalm moments.

Keldon with another incredible effort. 14/8/2 on 57/40/100 (4FTs, 2 to help seal the game), 1 TO. How far we’ve come, remembering the last few years…

Nice to see Dylan contributing even without Wembys gravity, which I think really accentuates his strengths. I’m expecting even more from him in MIN as his engine warms up.

Those minutes from Olynyk are why you bring him in in the offseason. 7 points in the 3rd when no one’s looking. On D he’s closing out on the 3pt line as well! Did Christmas come early?

Very impressed with this team’s composure and will to win. We are delivering in big games, sans Wemby and Castle. These guys are growing before our eyes, and I’m very happy they will get some big-game experience in Vegas.

Unbelievable we are 5-1 since Vic’s injury. Should we trade Wemby? Could probably get John Collins for him.