Game Thread Spurs (48-17) vs Nuggets (40-26) (Thu 3/12/2026) [8:00PM CDT]

[wEmBoY]

You don’t get it at all, wemby is going to be run ragged if our bugs are DOA every time he sits. Playoffs are going to be way way more physical, wemby is going to be run not the ground. He is not going to do 38 minutes every other night

There is a reason they load managed him the whole fckn season, and thats for the playoffs so that he can play heavy minutes when needed. I didnt say 38mpg. I said 36mpg.

 

[The Ballsbreakers]

The backup bigs are starting to really worry me.
Kornet has regressed and looks slow, lethargic and just overall ineffective these past several games.
Plumlee also looks every bit his age.
Olynyk and Biyombo have not really show anything to warrant minutes, bless their hearts.

 

[spurraider21]

The worst part is that he never really does anything wrong to get pulled. All he does is produce at a high level every time he's on the court and bring energy.

Not sure what else he needs to do in order for Mitch to trust him tbh.

generally true but he does get foul-happy. not that it justified sitting him today

though an example of this in the 3rd quarter was a pretty dumb loose ball foul off a fox missed FT while we were in the penalty. not worth gifting them 2 points while going for an offensive rebound off a FT

 

[Trifecta]

The backup bigs are starting to really worry me.
Kornet has regressed and looks slow, lethargic and just overall ineffective these past several games.
Plumlee also looks every bit his age.
Olynyk and Biyombo have not really show anything to warrant minutes, bless their hearts.

I hope this deficiency will not bite them in the playoffs and I’m sure management will hopefully address this in the offseason.

 

[Spursgenius]

So did Wemby really have a sore ankle, or was that probably bullshit?

bs

 

[Spursgenius]

CB with 10 pts (4/6 FG), 3 rebs, 1 ast in 9min....

WTF Mitch

the fact that he hardly played during those two 11-0 runs tells you stich's BB sense. Guy was having a great game offensively and actually plays defense. If you go small ball he has to be in as a defender.

 

[Spursgenius]

Carter Bryant only getting 9 minutes when he was playing well and we spent a lot of time playing small ball feels wrong

feels wrong ? we have a bum at HC what do you expect

 

[Amuseddaysleeper]

There is a reason they load managed him the whole fckn season, and thats for the playoffs so that he can play heavy minutes when needed. I didnt say 38mpg. I said 36mpg.

Yes because 36 minutes vs 38 minutes is going to make a world of a difference. He was literally crying after the clippers game because he was exhausted. You are kidding yourself if you think he will be perfectly fine come playoff time. His conditioning is understandably a work in progress and if our other bigs keep shitting the bed we are going to get bounced if we have to over exert wemby

 

[Spursgenius]

Sucks to lose after having a big lead but we've won more than our fair share of games where we made late comebacks.

I was a proponent of cobbling together some 2nd rounders(attached to one of our expirings) for a live body big or 4 because all of my fears about Kornet are becoming a reality and we knew after the first 3 games that Biyombo was done done. Kornet is awesome when healthy but the dude is made out of porcelain.

I get Wright using this as a litmus test year (akin to OKC 2 seasons ago) but we are flush with 2nd rounders, some actual insurance against Wemby/Kornet being dinged up made sense.

true but we dont have a smart FO unless lottery picks fall in their laps.

 

[Spursgenius]

The interior D was not good as Denver attacked the paint quite a bit with success

stitch didnt have the right small ball lineup in.

 

[wEmBoY]

Yes because 36 minutes vs 38 minutes is going to make a world of a difference. He was literally crying after the clippers game because he was exhausted. You are kidding yourself if you think he will be perfectly fine come playoff time. His conditioning is understandably a work in progress and if our other bigs keep shitting the bed we are going to get bounced if we have to over exert wemby

Every game the in the playoffs is important. You're acting as if the playoffs is 82 games. There is a possibility spurs might get eliminated in first round and only play 6 games. Lets assume they make the finals and each series go 7 seven games, thats only 28 games with no back to back and plenty of rest between games and series. Like i said wemby is well rested. 22 year old wemby Only played 29mpg the whole season which is BS in my opinion.

 

[Spursgenius]

Every game the in the playoffs is important. You're acting as if the playoffs is 82 games. There is a possibility spurs might get eliminated in first round and only play 6 games. Lets assume they make the finals and each series go 7 seven games, thats only 28 games with no back to back and plenty of rest between games and series. Like i said wemby is well rested. 22 year old wemby Only played 29mpg the whole season which is BS in my opinion.

I think you start playing him 38 min a game in playoffs he will have some injuries in later rounds. His body is different from most nba players.

 

[wEmBoY]

I think you start playing him 38 min a game in playoffs he will have some injuries in later rounds. His body is different from most nba players.

Nah. Wemby is built like kareem who played atleast 35mpg until he was 35 years old and was able to play 20 seasons.

 

[Correct Crusader]

So did Wemby really have a sore ankle, or was that probably bullshit?

One sec lemme ask vic

 

[dn0774]

Every game the in the playoffs is important. You're acting as if the playoffs is 82 games. There is a possibility spurs might get eliminated in first round and only play 6 games. Lets assume they make the finals and each series go 7 seven games, thats only 28 games with no back to back and plenty of rest between games and series. Like i said wemby is well rested. 22 year old wemby Only played 29mpg the whole season which is BS in my opinion.

Yea, we get it, no back to backs in the playoffs, cool. Do you think the human body can just magically heal to 100% when it has 24 consecutive hours of inactivity? Wemby literally had to sit out tonight despite clearly wanting to play and it wasn’t a b2b.

Also, I know we haven’t made the playoffs in awhile and I am guessing you are a newer fan of the team seeing as your entire persona is tied to Victor but if a series goes 7 games then there won’t be much rest before the next series starts (unless you advance to the Finals).

The overall intensity in the playoffs is so much higher than regular season and accordingly more injuries stack up quick. Many championships have been won by teams that are just better able to weather the inevitable bumps and bruises (and worse) that comes with playoff basketball compared to their opponents. It worked in our favor in some runs (2003, 2014 come to mind) and against us in others (2000, 2001, 2008-11).

 

[Spursgenius]

Nah. Wemby is built like kareem who played atleast 35mpg until he was 35 years old and was able to play 20 seasons.

Kareem played in tougher times, players are fragile now

 

[wEmBoY]

Yea, we get it, no back to backs in the playoffs, cool. Do you think the human body can just magically heal to 100% when it has 24 consecutive hours of inactivity? Wemby literally had to sit out tonight despite clearly wanting to play and it wasn’t a b2b.

Also, I know we haven’t made the playoffs in awhile and I am guessing you are a newer fan of the team seeing as your entire persona is tied to Victor but if a series goes 7 games then there won’t be much rest before the next series starts (unless you advance to the Finals).

The overall intensity in the playoffs is so much higher than regular season and accordingly more injuries stack up quick. Many championships have been won by teams that are just better able to weather the inevitable bumps and bruises (and worse) that comes with playoff basketball compared to their opponents. It worked in our favor in some runs (2003, 2014 come to mind) and against us in others (2000, 2001, 2008-11).

Me a new fan? Lmao. There is enough tim to rest during the playoffs. Playoffs and regular season game is basically the same (48 minute of baskeball) its just that Playoffs is just more hype , more strategic and adjustments, the player rotation becomes small bacause superstars and key role players tend to play more minutes. Especially the finals. Playoffs isnt different from the regular season for Players like jokic, doncic and other superstar who play heavy minutes in the regular season.

 

[tearsofmorningdew]

couldn’t watch, was this more of Mitch fucking up another lead or was it on the players. Saw Luke’s disgusting stat line, dude needs to go to Germany for some of that Kobe treatment

 

[Robz4000]

couldn’t watch, was this more of Mitch fucking up another lead or was it on the players. Saw Luke’s disgusting stat line, dude needs to go to Germany for some of that Kobe treatment

As bad as Kornet has been, this was definitely Mitch fucking up tbh.

 

[tearsofmorningdew]

As bad as Kornet has been, this was definitely Mitch fucking up tbh.

Saw that Barnes got 27(!!) minutes and CB is back to his old minutes. Probably not a coincidence

 

[Robz4000]

Saw that Barnes got 27(!!) minutes and CB is back to his old minutes. Probably not a coincidence

Barnes was pretty solid tonight and deserved his minutes imo. Plumdog never should've been trotted out there for his first minutes against a small ball lineup with five 3-pt shooters instead of CB. Lead evaporated in less than 90 seconds. That was the game tbh.

 

[Ice009]

Biyombo isn't even that old, still 33.

This is completely shocking. He seems like he's 40. That is crazy.

Dev is a phenomenal shooter but that shooting form will never not be a bit odd to me.

I think his form is what holds him back from being a great shooter.

murray is deadly af

Were you from the future? He went crazy after this comment of yours. Absolutely went crazy after this comment.

Man, Terrible loss. Just watched the replay. I thought we were going to win, but completely shit the bed in the second half.

Questionable coaching and rotations from Mitch too. Went with Keldon way too long and stupid smalls on Jokic for way too long.

Sucks that Steph missed that big three at the end. He played hard out there and shot well from three. I thought that last shot of his was in .

Let's just rest Wemby and give a game away. You know it's not like any momentum was happening or anything

If Victor was OK to go and the Spurs had him sit out, it cost us. It might cost Victor awards too . Should not have rested Victor is he was OK to go. These guys think they can get cute. Most likely locked into the second seed now, but IMO need to keep winning to stay ahead of Detroit for second overall.

Have to find more minutes for CB. Probably some over Julian At this point.

I thought Carter played well in the first half (8 points) and he only gets 4 or 5 minutes. No idea what Mitch is doing. Spurs may have had a better game if Carter was given the minutes he earned in the first half and maybe he rides that confidence into the second half. Terrible job from Mitch. He get a D from me.

Also fuck Jamal Murray, couldn’t do this shit in the all star game lol

Unfornuately, I believe in Murray. I've believed in him since the 2019-2020 season. When he's healthy, he's an excellent player.
I was upset with how he played in the all-star game, but with his injury history, I don't think he wanted to go all out in the game.

He only play his best at high stake games and in the playoffs tbh

Very true (if you weren't being sarcastic). This is why I respect him. When he's healthy/not playing hurt, he usually shows up in big game.

Close by Steph tbh, not the person ya want shooting a game saving shot but it is what it is

I thought that shot was in. Really tough miss from Steph. Hopefully he keeps going with the confident 3 point shooting as he is shooting pretty well from three lately.

Kornet is such trash, playing like a fourth stringer wtf

I called it in the first 1/4, 1/3 of the season. I was worried about not having a proper backup center as Luke has never played big minutes and wasn't sure how he'd hold up. I really wanted one drafted, but again, no idea what the Spurs were thinking, and then not getting one at the trade deadline didn't help. It seems like they were even going to forgo Mason Plumlee too (they said Mason reached out to the Spurs).
Looks like Luke was a third stringer for a reason. Boston haven't missed a beat without him. I thought Boston would struggle without Horford, Luke and Porzingis, but they're easily covered his spot.

This is exclusively on Mitch.
I can't believe he played Plumlee against their small lineup.

And we're in trouble with current big situation.
Kornet, Olynyk, Biyombo, Plumlee and we can't get 15 combined solid minutes from them.

Called it months ago . I wish I was wrong. Spurs have hurt this teams chances in the playoffs IMO by their lack of understanding on needing to upgrade some spots on the roster and instead keeping culture guys around. Culture don't win you championships. It can help, but it's not a driving factor to winning it all.
The Spurs' third stringers/deep bench players are useless.

Victor is not going to be able to play 40 minutes per game in the playoffs to cover for the lack of backup bigs.

Anyone who still thinks Wemby is not the DPOY

Well, the retarded/disgraceful 83 point Bam Adebayo thinks he's in the running for a legit chance at it. Same with his "disgrace the game" enabling coach.

Not true, he has hit some big 3s.

Absolutely. I had no issue with him taking that shot. No one else on the team had shown this game they deserved to take the shot head of him.

Disagree, Steph has become pretty decent on catch and shoot threes the last month or so and he was open. Take that shit every time Steph.

Exactly. Not sure what Rafa was on about. No problem at all with Steph taking that shot. I thought it was in when it left his hands.

You guys need to stop being a bunch of ball lickers.

They basically planned to lose this game. How did you think it was going to go without your seven and a half foot defensive anchor not playing. I mean don't blame the other players blame Mitch if you want to blame anyone

Uhh no. I think they thought they could win it. I think the coaching staff or whoever makes the call on sitting players thought they could get away with it and win the game. They were wrong and disrespected the Nuggets. The Spurs players did a great job, but the coaching did them no favours and did them in.

KJ also ran his own offense and took away some momentum with his “bull in the china shop” offense

I was afraid that Keldon was going to cool. I just don't believe he's a playoff type of player. He's not a smart and heady player. He relies on energy and bulls his way through things. You can't use that approach all the time. I don't trust the form on his jumper at all for big shots in the playoffs. Devin is the only guy from the old friendship crew I trust that I think can help in the playoffs.
I really, really hope KJ proves me wrong and punches me in the mouth for those comments.

Looks like some injury or something, the reason they got plumlee.

I heard that Plumlee reached out to the team and asked if they had a spot. It sounds to me like they weren't even going to get a backup center at all. Spurs FO has dropped the ball on trying to improve the team for a deep playoff run and a chance to win it all. They're darn lucky CB has stepped up, but Mitch is still not giving CB enough minutes IMO. You need CB ready for the playoffs (I hope he's going to be in the rotation). Not giving CB only 5 minutes after he has 8 points in the first half. He doesn't deserve anywhere near coach of the year. Mazzulla would be playing CB a lot more.

On the bright side, a reality check here and there is a good thing to keep these young guys level headed.

I think we all know my now the team's offense is good even without Victor out there, but all I saw was how piss poor the team's defense is without Victor (something else we knew). I don't think it's a reality check. It's more of a - we're f@%ked if Victor can't play big minutes in the playoffs type check.
No really backup centers, Spurs didn't care enough to try and fix that hole. Had to have Mason Plumlee reach out to them than the other way around. I hope Plumlee ends up being able to help the team. I have zero confidence in Kornet right now. He looks like total shit. Not sure if he's injured, or just been exposed playing as a primary backup center instead of a 3rd string backup center. It seems other teams might have figured out to keep attacking when he's out there.

Carter Bryant needed to play more in second half. Especially in small ball lineup with no rim protector. Stitch Johnson has no feel
For the game.

100%. Mitch is nowhere close to coach of the year. Someone like Mazzulla would probably be playing CB regular minutes. If he wasn't already a lock for coach of the year, Mazzulla is my pick after this game (not sure if Mitch was ever in the running).

Without Wemby this team is 10-5 with road wins in Denver and LA. Tonight was a tough loss but this team is anything but average even without Victor.

Spurs offense is good and carried them in a lot of those wins. Their defense is NOT good at all without Victor and locked in teams at this point of the season fighting for playoff seeding will expose that porous interior defense, that record wouldn't look anywhere near as good.

What?!!! Dude save this comment for a team like Portland or Memphis. If it would have been those that we lost to or struggled with THEN you can say this shit but not an experienced championship contender team like the Nuggets. Wtf. Spoiled already?? Team is 10-5 without Wemby and played great first half basketball that was way better than an average team could pull off

I am venting a little bit after just watching the game, and what you're saying is reasonable, but I am focusing/looking at how bad the defense is with Victor out. I don't know if Victor will have to play big minutes in the playoffs if the Spurs don't want to get exploited there. I'm just looking at how they will likely get taken advantage of in the playoffs. If Victor can't play big minutes, I'm sure opposing coaches are going to try and get their players to attack the rim at will when he's sitting.

The interior D was not good as Denver attacked the paint quite a bit with success

This is my main takeaway from the game and it's a legit worry for the playoffs. The other worry is Mitch's coaching. He was terrible in this game. Made a lot of wrong decisions. Doesn't seem to have a feel for when to pull a failing strategy (going small) and change it up to stop the bleeding. It happened earlier in the game where Denver went on a run and he did it again late in the second half that may have cost the team the game. These are my main two issues from the game and I think they could be big ones come playoff time. I'm solely looking at this for the playoffs from the this. Don't care about the loss itself as much as what I see could be a big issue/s in the playoffs.

I mean I don't think they'd win 55 games with this team minus Victor, which is what 10-5 would extrapolate out to, but they've shown enough to make me believe they'd be fighting Phoenix for a #6 seed. That's not an average team, especially in this conference.

You really think this team would be fighting for 6th without Vic? I disagree. I think play-in (8-10th) if he wasn't on the team at all, that'd be what they'd be fighting for. They wouldn't even be close to the Clippers if Vic wasn't on the team.

Who cares about personal awards? I’m far more concerned with how awful our big rotation is after wemby site. Kornet is playing like a fourth stringer right now.

Wemby isn't going to play 48 minutes in the playoffs. Sure, Denver might be the best offensive team in the league, but it's still concerning that we blew a 20 PT lead without him. We won't make it far in the playoffs if the defense falls of a cliff when he's out.

100% my thoughts after seeing this. Victor not playing tonight really highlights what we've seen within games when he's been on the bench. He covers up A LOT of issues. He's my MVP.

Even a Baynes level player would be a major upgrade. It’s astounding the drop off after Wemby.

I could see it, not sure why the FO didn't try harder. It sounds like they were content at the trade deadline to not even try trading for anyone or aggressively reaching out to see if anyone wants to be bought out to give them a roster spot if they reached a deal with their team.

no he wont. He doesnt have the stamina or the body for it. We have to establish another lineup for when he is out if Kornet going to play like a pussy. I say its CB in small ball lineup

I mean, this was my thoughts when I was pushing for CB to start and get more minutes this past month or two. This is the only solution I can come up with this roster.

The worst part is that he never really does anything wrong to get pulled. All he does is produce at a high level every time he's on the court and bring energy.

Not sure what else he needs to do in order for Mitch to trust him tbh.

Mitch is a pussy. He doesn't have the balls to do moves like this. He falls back to veterans, or players he seems to trust more. He's not willing to take a real chance from the looks of it. Always goes for the solid option over the one that can maybe have a bigger impact in the long run.
He never trusted Jeremy, it's quite evident seeing it now. Yeah, maybe Jeremy wasn't good, but it seems Mitch had predetermined he doesn't trust him and was never even going to give him a chance because of that.

You don’t get it at all, wemby is going to be run ragged if our bugs are DOA every time he sits. Playoffs are going to be way way more physical, wemby is going to be run not the ground. He is not going to do 38 minutes every other night

This is what I am worried about. Victor is GREAT, but can he play those type of minutes in the playoffs? I hope Victor can do it.

Lmao there is plenty of time to rest during the playoffs. No back to back games. And beside they already load managed wemby. So he is fresh for the playoffs.tbh

Well, darn, good post, and I hope you are right.

Sorry for the long post, was just going through the game thread and needed to vent a bit. I still feel some of the things we saw in the game could be a problem in the playoffs. I just want to see the team at least get to the second round and WCF if possible. I still think they can, but Mitch has to do a much better job. I do no get the lack of minutes for CB for one. Some of the other issues can be fixed with better coaching decisions.

 

[Robz4000]

Biyombo is definitely older than 33 tbh. A lot of players from Africa have faked their ages over the years. Ibaka is the most notorious example; dude is 5+ years older than his listed age.

 

[Ice009]

Biyombo is definitely older than 33 tbh. A lot of players from Africa have faked their ages over the years. Ibaka is the most notorious example; dude is 5+ years older than his listed age.

If Biyombo was 33, I think he'd be a killer for us/the team. Yep, he must be one of those guys where his age was faked. Why do they fake their ages? Is it just poor record keeping, or is it to gain advantage playing against younger players to look better and give them an edge to make it further (to the NBA)?

 

[Quentin_Compson]

Our two centers combined for zero (!) FG attempts in 33 minutes. That's just not going to cut it - why not run at least a couple of Castle/Fox P'n'R actions with Kornet to make Jokic defend at the rim and hopefully score some easy points?