Game Thread Spurs (15-7) @ Pelicans (3-21) (Mon 12/8/25) [7:00PM CDT]

[Kick-Stand]

this team can never keep the lead

atrocious defense again, everyone getting owned in the paint, even Luke


still, any road win is a great win

They're a young team and I expect them to blow leads. But damn, every single time they get one? So many games I just come out of thinking was it the Spurs raw talent pulling these wins out or did they just get really lucky?

 

[Mugen]

Wemby is the greatest defender of all time tbh. Just look at the fucking layup lines these last 2 games without him, jesus.

 

[STAT88]

6.34-6.40 is an interesting watch.

 

[eric365]

A few thoughts :
- Vassell is a volume scorer, he is useless without enough shot attempts. Either give him 15 shots attempts (with 2 or 3 very early in the game) or trade him
- Castle defending on Queen was great. Why wait so late to try it? and not use it at the end?
- Mitch is being outmatched on halftime adjustement every single time... It's concerning at this point
- Castle being so clearly the primary PG with Fox on the floor should not be automatic

 

[John B]

Yeah I left by half-time to go to my boy’s Scout meeting with a big lead, then watched later the highlights with disbelief, losing the 25 points lead and the game ended in last possession.

Hopefully they learned a thing or two about keeping their foot on the pedal with a big lead, which is always dangerous with a young team. There are athletic bigs in the league like Queen, Sengun, Zion to name a few, that Spurs need to prepare for. Sochan was supposed to be Spurs neutralizer, but pity he’s not. I was expecting Olynyx would be a scrappy big, but lacking toughness. The Spurs should continue to look for that defensive PF.

 

[Ice009]

Why are you surprised about bad defense some of us have been calling it out since game 1 when Wemby was playing. Wemby was bailing out bad team defense he cleaned up so many bad defensive series by the rest of team yes he has been that good on defense

Victor's a back to back to back defensive player of the year when he plays. I don't know how he didn't get it his rookie year. Even as a rookie (not being acclimated to the NBA game yet), the defense when he was off the court was horrendous and when he was on, I'm pretty sure the Spurs were a top 10 defense, and that's for a rookie.

Just read a stat on NBA.com saying that Kornet has the lowest opponent FG percentage at the rim in the league for a minimum of 50 attempts. Thats nuts. Too bad Dairy Queen ruined that.

Yeah, I knew he was up there as someone posted something similar a week or so ago. The thing I'm starting to question, though, is Luke has missed a bunch of games and also hasn't played big minutes, so I don't know if the sample size is too small.. If he were to play big minutes 30+, would his rim protection still be the same or is that stat going to start going the other way?

They also don't they the same position. So funny, Castle's a future all-D guy with good secondary playmaking, much much more Jimmy Butler with less insane FTr (although skill crazy good FTr-better than SGA this yr) then PG.
People please fucking stop this too many PG nonsense. Castle claimed to played PG in HS (maybe, more likely he was just the guy that always had the ball bc is should've always had the ball), wasn't drafted as a PG, he wasn't projected as a PG, he didn't play PG in college. He was ONLY viewed as a PG because of our need. Maybe he could've become that someday, luckily he shouldn't ever have to find out. He's our rim attacking #3 with great secondary skills, that's a great thing.

Is Jimmy Butler's FTr still higher than Stephon's this season?

As for the PG thing, I thought Castle was starting to look really good at PG before he got hurt and just as Fox was returning, so I don't know what would have happened if he kept playing PG before getting injured. I thought he was adjusting to the position.

Truth, but Manu was WAY more a natural PG/playmaker than Steph. Shit I'd bet nearly 1/2 of Steph assists were lobs (and a 1/3 of his TOs). That's not a bad thing, but its no where near the passing/vision Manu had.

Yeah, I guess if you're comparing him to Manu, Manu seemed like a much more natural playmaker than what Steph has shown so far.

 

[SupremeGuy]

Not gonna lie, I cringe on Reddit whenever that one poster brings up that on pace for 75-7 nonsense.

You shut the fuck up. There are people saying that shit? lol Damn, that's awesome

Fuck it.

 

[Quentin_Compson]

Not being able to stop NO from getting whatever they wanted in the paint was not a nice thing to behold. Also, the offense looked too static and stagnant in the second half. Oh well, as Gertrude Stein once said, a win is a win is a win ...

 

[Em-City]

48 minutes of elite guard play, non-stop attack.

…and people want to keep mislabeling Castle as a small forward, diminishing the promising talent he has whenever he has an off game. He clearly is able to make special things happen when the ball is in his hands, so let him have it. This doesn’t mean the ball won’t be in Fox or Harper’s hands, all indications are that these guys are excited to share the point guard duties with each other. Too bad fans can’t be excited too.

I'm actually with dejounte on this one

 

[Raven_]

... and so the castle isn't a pg cope restarts. The eternal cycle

 

[CrustyCoastBendFan]

- Monday, Dec 8, 2025: Pels vs Spurs showdown
- Expectations: Castle makes his grand comeback from injury
- Spurs snag the win
- Castle surprisingly does not resemble a retiree from the senior league
- Grades? Patience — they’re coming

It’s the holiday season and I’m in a great mood. The air is crisp, excitement everywhere, and CASTLE is back! Yippee! My expectations heading into this game are simple, as mentioned above. I feel a bit bad even giving anyone a superficial letter grade, since integrating a returning player into a team that’s gone 7-3 while Wemby and Castle were out with injury feels unfair on many levels. If you’re holding some kind of standard like that and expecting anything other than a win, you might need to rethink your approach or need medication. The game thread didn’t disappoint.
Granted, we were all disappointed in the Cleveland road trip, but there are a few who visit THE LAND and return feeling fantastic. It’s practically a national dad joke at this point. Considering Kornett wasn’t playing that game, everything that happened in The Mistake on the Lake should hopefully inspire us to touch grass and gain some perspective. But no, no—the days between that game and this one were filled with

- Giannis’ wild trade fever dreams
- Wemby’s top-secret medical mystery files

So naturally the concessions of the commentors was "THE SPURS BETTER BLOW OUT THE PELICANS OR ELSE.

I couldn’t stop laughing when the very first play of the game had Castle and Fox teaming up for an absolutely disastrous turnover. But as the game went on, our trio of guards actually looked great in stretches, even if they weren’t scoring exactly as the commentators expected. We led by as much as 25 and finished the first half up by 20.

So That Half was an A-.

I watch the NBA games and have been loosely keeping tabs on the Pels ever since they named former Spurs wunderkind Borrego as interim head coach. Yeah, that fresh-faced young whippersnapper who left the Spurs family to coach the Hornets. So I knew that despite their record and not having Zion, the Pels were a competitive team featuring 21-year-old “dad bod” basketball savant rookie Queen. I was kinda expecting a TURD Quater and BOY did we get a TURD of a Quarter.

Third quarter was a comedy of errors and comments. LOL. Queen used his wide child-bearing hips to waddle into the paint and absolutely punish the Spurs’ front court, including Usain Bolt–posing hero from two games ago, Kornet.

100-102 Pels

THAT a TURD FURGUSON CERFIED F for that TURD Quater.

What’s causing this chaos? Is it hubris? Is Mitch delivering locker room pep talks or just perfecting his invisible man routine? Who knows—it’s all wild speculation and up to the ever-mysterious “semi-informed sources” that Spurs beat reporter Jeff McDonald loves to name-drop.

WTF is a SIMI INFORMED SOURCE?


The fourth quarter… oh boy. It was a rock fight, with Mitch shuffling the lineup several times and the lead changing hands almost as often. The Spurs grabbed a slim final lead at 8:55 on a Julian Champagnie 27-footer off a Dylan Harper assist, then stretched it to as much as six and saw it shrink to just one before finally sealing the 135-132 win on two clutch De’Aaron Fox free throws. Whew, what a quarter. Commentators are livid.

GRADE B-

A WIN IS A WIN

It could be worse. Just look at how the Monday Night Football game ended for Philly fans. I’m pretty sure I heard chants of “Jalen Turds” by the time he lost the game in OT with an interception on the Chargers’ 1-yard line in the red zone.

JALEN TURDS
is a FUNY NAME

Overall Grade C



These are the grades I feel comfortable giving out today, because no single player on the Spurs played as poorly as the Jalen Turds, and no one stood out as truly exceptional.

 

[Ice009]

Man fox nearly did us in at the start of the third quarter, it was just turnover after turnover, brick after brick.

I thought castle actually did pretty well for his first game back in a while. You could tell he was trying to get his flow and shot back but same aggressive as hell castle.

Harper showing his star much earlier than most thought, even me and I was one of his biggest fans at the time of the draft.

So who the fuck on here was on the ST rookie thread badmouthing Queen? I distinctly recall I was one of the very few saying he was gonna be a star but almost everyone else hated the guy. As if having actually basketball skill is some kind of poison. How many of you actually thought that Malowatch guy was gonna be the better center!? Time to fess up.

Yep. I do remember a lot of people saying Queen might suck, and quite a few people would have wanted Maluach (don't know the spelling, sorry if it's wrong) ahead of him. A lot of people did trash Queen's defense, though, saying he'd suck on that end, so maybe that is why 90% of posters on ST would have taken Maluach or thought Maluach would be better. When TD sent Sean that text last time the Spurs played the Pelicans (saying this Queen kid is good or something along those lines), I had a feeling this guy is going to be a lot better than 90% of us thought. I thought Queen was amazing last night (on offense that is - I didn't pay attention to his defense).

I don't remember who else liked Queen on ST. When talking predraft, I think ScottSpurs (I can't remember if it was ScorttSpurs or someone else) was also a fan of his, but said he wouldn't fit here cause his defense is terrible.

As for Steph, I thought he played pretty well for his first game back. He was a bit rusty, but still aggressive. He didn't play perfect, but I thought he was good overall. I'm not sure if his turnover issues are just mental errors of if he has to get into a rhythm with the way that his teammates play. When he was in sync with them before he got hurt, he was starting to cut his turnovers right down.

 

[elpimpo4cc]

Season goal for me is 42-40 so spurs blowing that away. Keep it up, power of friendship

 

[OK Computer]

Yep. I do remember a lot of people saying Queen might suck, and quite a few people would have wanted Maluach (don't know the spelling, sorry if it's wrong) ahead of him. A lot of people did trash Queen's defense, though, saying he'd suck on that end, so maybe that is why 90% of posters on ST would have taken Maluach or thought Maluach would be better. When TD sent Sean that text last time the Spurs played the Pelicans (saying this Queen kid is good or something along those lines), I had a feeling this guy is going to be a lot better than 90% of us thought. I thought Queen was amazing last night (on offense that is - I didn't pay attention to his defense).

I don't remember who else liked Queen on ST. When talking predraft, I think ScottSpurs (I can't remember if it was ScorttSpurs or someone else) was also a fan of his, but said he wouldn't fit here cause his defense is terrible.

As for Steph, I thought he played pretty well for his first game back. He was a bit rusty, but still aggressive. He didn't play perfect, but I thought he was good overall. I'm not sure if his turnover issues are just mental errors of if he has to get into a rhythm with the way that his teammates play. When he was in sync with them before he got hurt, he was starting to cut his turnovers right down.

It was me and scottspurs leading the bandwagon on Queen tbh. Before the draft, I was obsessed with his offense and posted about how it would be one of the best in the NBA.

 

[CGD]

It was me and scottspurs leading the bandwagon on Queen tbh. Before the draft, I was obsessed with his offense and posted about how it would be one of the best in the NBA.

Dumars won that trade TBH, IMO

 

[Ice009]

It was me and scottspurs leading the bandwagon on Queen tbh. Before the draft, I was obsessed with his offense and posted about how it would be one of the best in the NBA.

Well then, major props to you guys. I couldn't remember who, so thanks for clarifying it was you guys. I did remember 2-3 people on ST were very high on him as I was asking about him, and it seems you guys might be right about him. Maybe Dumars isn't as big of a dipshit as people thought for doing that trade. When TD is texting Sean about him during a game, then TD is seeing what you guys thought about him too, that's good company to have on your side. TD seems to love those type bigmen that can score in a variety of ways and get their teammates involved. Again, great call. He looked amazing last night.

Have any of you guys watched much NOP games this season? If so, how bad is his defense? If it's bad, does he look like he has at least some potential to improve on that end of the court in the NBA?

 

[OK Computer]

Duane’s won that trade TBH, IMO

I’m assuming you’re talking about the Hawks FO… whether they did or they didn’t amounts to nothing for me since I’m a Spurs fan. All I know is that Queen will be one of the most entertaining players to watch in the NBA due to his immense offensive talent.

 

[CGD]

I’m assuming you’re talking about the Hawks FO… whether they did or they didn’t amounts to nothing for me since I’m a Spurs fan. All I know is that Queen will be one of the most entertaining players to watch in the NBA due to his immense offensive talent.

Sorry, the autocorrect managed it. Meant to say DUMARS. Was mostly kidding.

 

[OK Computer]

Well then, major props to you guys. I couldn't remember who, so thanks for clarifying it was you guys. I did remember 2-3 people on ST were very high on him as I was asking about him, and it seems you guys might be right about him. Maybe Dumars isn't as big of a dipshit as people thought for doing that trade. When TD is texting Sean about him during a game, then TD is seeing what you guys thought about him too, that's good company to have on your side. TD seems to love those type bigmen that can score in a variety of ways and get their teammates involved. Again, great call. He looked amazing last night.

Have any of you guys watched much NOP games this season? If so, how bad is his defense? If it's bad, does he look like he has at least some potential to improve on that end of the court in the NBA?

I don’t think he’ll improve much. What Queen needs is similar to what Sengun has: a Steven Adams.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1996441232982290878

If he gets a player like that next to him (maybe not for all 48 minutes) in the future: game over.

 

[couchman]

I had Queen as a top 5 prospect before the draft and said so many times (on ST). At times I had him #3 after Harper.
I’ve always loved his game. He will have a long career too, especially since he doesn’t rely on athleticism to get it done.
The thing with Queen is that you have to be willing to run your offense through him, kind of like offenses for Sengun or Jokic. He’s not that good right now obviously, but that’s the play style.

 

[Fireball]

Another horrible performance by the Spurs somehow resulting in a win. This Castle/Fox thing is not working yet.
At least Harper bounced back. But we really need Wemby back. I mean in the end its all for naught if he does not play.

 

[Raven_]

Well then, major props to you guys. I couldn't remember who, so thanks for clarifying it was you guys. I did remember 2-3 people on ST were very high on him as I was asking about him, and it seems you guys might be right about him. Maybe Dumars isn't as big of a dipshit as people thought for doing that trade. When TD is texting Sean about him during a game, then TD is seeing what you guys thought about him too, that's good company to have on your side. TD seems to love those type bigmen that can score in a variety of ways and get their teammates involved. Again, great call. He looked amazing last night.

Have any of you guys watched much NOP games this season? If so, how bad is his defense? If it's bad, does he look like he has at least some potential to improve on that end of the court in the NBA?

No. He's bad and he'll stay bad. He can improve like everyone can, but he doesn't have the length or speed to be anything but an undersized center.

 

[Exstatic]

So if we end up making it to the next round in the cup against OKC, does that mean we will have played them THREE times by the end of the year?

Being a conference rival but not in our division, we would normally play them either 3 or 4 times. We have 4 on the schedule, so if we get past LA, we would play them 5 times in the regular season.

 

[TDomination]

- Monday, Dec 8, 2025: Pels vs Spurs showdown
- Expectations: Castle makes his grand comeback from injury
- Spurs snag the win
- Castle surprisingly does not resemble a retiree from the senior league
- Grades? Patience — they’re coming

It’s the holiday season and I’m in a great mood. The air is crisp, excitement everywhere, and CASTLE is back! Yippee! My expectations heading into this game are simple, as mentioned above. I feel a bit bad even giving anyone a superficial letter grade, since integrating a returning player into a team that’s gone 7-3 while Wemby and Castle were out with injury feels unfair on many levels. If you’re holding some kind of standard like that and expecting anything other than a win, you might need to rethink your approach or need medication. The game thread didn’t disappoint.
Granted, we were all disappointed in the Cleveland road trip, but there are a few who visit THE LAND and return feeling fantastic. It’s practically a national dad joke at this point. Considering Kornett wasn’t playing that game, everything that happened in The Mistake on the Lake should hopefully inspire us to touch grass and gain some perspective. But no, no—the days between that game and this one were filled with

- Giannis’ wild trade fever dreams
- Wemby’s top-secret medical mystery files

So naturally the concessions of the commentors was "THE SPURS BETTER BLOW OUT THE PELICANS OR ELSE.

I couldn’t stop laughing when the very first play of the game had Castle and Fox teaming up for an absolutely disastrous turnover. But as the game went on, our trio of guards actually looked great in stretches, even if they weren’t scoring exactly as the commentators expected. We led by as much as 25 and finished the first half up by 20.

So That Half was an A-.

I watch the NBA games and have been loosely keeping tabs on the Pels ever since they named former Spurs wunderkind Borrego as interim head coach. Yeah, that fresh-faced young whippersnapper who left the Spurs family to coach the Hornets. So I knew that despite their record and not having Zion, the Pels were a competitive team featuring 21-year-old “dad bod” basketball savant rookie Queen. I was kinda expecting a TURD Quater and BOY did we get a TURD of a Quarter.

Third quarter was a comedy of errors and comments. LOL. Queen used his wide child-bearing hips to waddle into the paint and absolutely punish the Spurs’ front court, including Usain Bolt–posing hero from two games ago, Kornet.

100-102 Pels

THAT a TURD FURGUSON CERFIED F for that TURD Quater.

What’s causing this chaos? Is it hubris? Is Mitch delivering locker room pep talks or just perfecting his invisible man routine? Who knows—it’s all wild speculation and up to the ever-mysterious “semi-informed sources” that Spurs beat reporter Jeff McDonald loves to name-drop.

WTF is a SIMI INFORMED SOURCE?


The fourth quarter… oh boy. It was a rock fight, with Mitch shuffling the lineup several times and the lead changing hands almost as often. The Spurs grabbed a slim final lead at 8:55 on a Julian Champagnie 27-footer off a Dylan Harper assist, then stretched it to as much as six and saw it shrink to just one before finally sealing the 135-132 win on two clutch De’Aaron Fox free throws. Whew, what a quarter. Commentators are livid.

GRADE B-

A WIN IS A WIN

It could be worse. Just look at how the Monday Night Football game ended for Philly fans. I’m pretty sure I heard chants of “Jalen Turds” by the time he lost the game in OT with an interception on the Chargers’ 1-yard line in the red zone.

JALEN TURDS
is a FUNY NAME

Overall Grade C



These are the grades I feel comfortable giving out today, because no single player on the Spurs played as poorly as the Jalen Turds, and no one stood out as truly exceptional.

Awesome

 

[UbikRex]

Vassell defense was terrible last night. Glad the spurs strung up a W. I knew they were going to blow the lead against this pelicans team. Harrison Barnes deserves the game ball keeping the spurs from total collapse in the 3rd quarter.