Game Thread Spurs (62-19) vs Nuggets (53-28) (Sunday 4/12/26) [7:30PM CDT]

[spursistan]

The way folks were so confident in this match-up was puzzling to me. We couldn't stop them with or without Wemby. Also when is the last time Jokic had an average game, let alone a bad one, vs the Wemby Spurs? Even Victor hasn't been able to disrupt him efficiency-wise, not to say stop him.

 

[Russ]

JT going in on us today

https://twitter.com/x/status/2043681616715972980

Hard to argue with this.

 

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Just outside of a decade ago but last night couldn't hold a candle to 2015 against the Pelicans tbh.

Great memory, ugh could’ve avoided the clippers that year!

 

[scott]

JT going in on us today

https://twitter.com/x/status/2043681616715972980

Imagine thinking this was the Spurs most important regular season game, tbh

 

[spurs10]

The more i think about it the more i believe this will be the costliest season finale faux pas by the Spurs since that '15 Pelicans loss. It is not just the bracket rearrangement but the mental edge surrendered to the Nuggets in such dumb fashion will come back to haunt them..

Sadly, it is bad and I'm not surprised Mitch was 'upset.'

 

[brazil]

Spurs considered Victor health was the priority rather than go all in to get Denver in the other bracket. Denver chose the midle ground playing Jokic only 18 mn and letting Gordon on the bench. Spurs letting Victor out for the game, they were totally ready to lose that game since the beginning, Jokic mn limitation does not change that. It appears that both don't mind an early confrontation. At the end the one happy team is OKC.

There are pros and cons on the actual situation... Victor a bit more rested, OKC will arrive in the finals not being really tested, Denver Spurs if they meet could be an exhausting dog fight etc etc

At the end it is what it is... Spurs are way ahead of schedule, we have nothing to lose, pressure is on Nuggets that chose that path, unvaluable experience in all cases.

Great season already achieved... Mitch consolidated himself as a solid coach and will be POs tested, Victor is eveything we hoped for and even more, DPOY in the bag, +60 wins season, Castle confirmed, Harper is the real deal and a potential POs run for the ages. If the Spurs wanted to know what they have they will be served.

If you are a Spur fan bitching about dat season or dat final game, you should consult urgently and start watching curling better for your mental health

 

[spursistan]

Sadly, it is bad and I'm not surprised Mitch was 'upset.'

The Denver bench was laughing at our regulars try and fail to play catch-up with their 3rd stringers . The path to win was to play Wemby 20-22minutes to put them in hole early because the likes of Fox can't be trusted to carry anything under any modicum of pressure or in any games with relative big stakes.

 

[LeBowen]

Spurs considered Victor health was the priority rather than go all in to get Denver in the other bracket. Denver chose the midle ground playing Jokic only 18 mn and letting Gordon on the bench. Spurs letting Victor out for the game, they were totally ready to lose that game since the beginning, Jokic mn limitation does not change that. It appears that both don't mind an early confrontation. At the end the one happy team is OKC.

The Nuggets were only +6 with Jokic.
Not playing Wemby was the right decision, but everyone else should be embarrassed for getting shit on by G-league Nuggets.
Yes, Valanciunas had a huge advantage, but what about the advantage our perimeter players were supposed to have and got shit on by third stringers over and over again?
If Wemby is going to have to contain every single drive by himself, then we'll be in trouble in the playoffs.

At the end it is what it is... Spurs are way ahead of schedule, we have nothing to lose, pressure is on Nuggets that chose that path, unvaluable experience in all cases.

I really dislike the ahead of schedule narrative.
Yes, this has been way better than expected, but why not take advantage of an opportunity that presented itself? Modern NBA is brutal and staying healthy is the most important thing to win a championship. Why not push our two main competitors to kill each other while we get an easier path? It's not a guarantee that our key players will be healthy next year or the year after that.

Mitch consolidated himself as a solid coach and will be POs tested

Mitch has proven he's a good coach when it comes to building a system/indentity, we'll see how he does with mid-series and in-game adjustments when the opponents throw unexpected stuff at us.

 

[couchman]

Wemby has struggled to defend the superstar bigs so far in his career.
Not just Jokic, but when healthy Embiid, Giannis, and even AD have had really big nights against Wemby.
He doesn't match up well with the more physical bigs.
If we face the Nuggest in the playoffs, I hope that we change our approach and put someone else on Jokic and let Wemby work as a help defender.
It's a big bummer that we couldn't win this one and put Denver on the other side of the bracket.
Making the WCF will count as a great success imo.

 

[spurs10]

We can't change anything now. Ditch the headbands and get ready for an intense path to the Western Conference Finals. If we lose in the second round of course last night seems like a dumb move. It seemed like a dumb move to me when I saw Wemby in street clothes and Plumlee jumping the ball. All that being said, we have to beat the Suns, Nuggets, and OKC. The stats of Nuggets against us don't look good, but they barely won several of their games in the end of the season. Depending on last second heroics might not pan out in a best of 7 series. It will be trial by fire and if you don't win ya go home. They've never been tested like this. I hope last night's humiliation will wake them up as to what they face ahead.

 

[Arcadian]

I had never heard of Jalen Pickett, David Roddy, or Curtis Jones before this game.

They all had more points than Castle.

 

[Coyote2!]

Wemby has struggled to defend the superstar bigs so far in his career.
Not just Jokic, but when healthy Embiid, Giannis, and even AD have had really big nights against Wemby.
He doesn't match up well with the more physical bigs.
If we face the Nuggest in the playoffs, I hope that we change our approach and put someone else on Jokic and let Wemby work as a help defender.
It's a big bummer that we couldn't win this one and put Denver on the other side of the bracket.
Making the WCF will count as a great success imo.

Wemby has had only one shot this entire season to defend a healthy generational big man. All the instances of him getting pushed around by the likes of Embiid, AD, and Giannis (who I think he matched up well with) were from his first two seasons. I think he'll prove a lot of people wrong if we play Denver in the second round.

 

[brazil]

The Nuggets were only +6 with Jokic.
Not playing Wemby was the right decision, but everyone else should be embarrassed for getting shit on by G-league Nuggets.
Yes, Valanciunas had a huge advantage, but what about the advantage our perimeter players were supposed to have and got shit on by third stringers over and over again?
If Wemby is going to have to contain every single drive by himself, then we'll be in trouble in the playoffs.


I really dislike the ahead of schedule narrative.
Yes, this has been way better than expected, but why not take advantage of an opportunity that presented itself? Modern NBA is brutal and staying healthy is the most important thing to win a championship. Why not push our two main competitors to kill each other while we get an easier path? It's not a guarantee that our key players will be healthy next year or the year after that.


Mitch has proven he's a good coach when it comes to building a system/indentity, we'll see how he does with mid-series and in-game adjustments when the opponents throw unexpected stuff at us.

Nuggets were only +6 and only +10 at the end. Not knowing what Denver would do if you sit Victor you pretty much give up the game already. Not the first time third stringers hold a lead in a NBA game or even extend it... game has been frustrating in that regard but again no need to kill ourselves over it. At the end if we play them we will have home court advantage. Now Denver will have to handle MIN, team that has been resting his players last 10 games. That's not an easy first round for them.

It will be a first POs run for almost everybody players coaches... we enter in the unknown but we will get there hopefully healthy, hungry, with hca coming off a frustrating loss. Sorry I'm not in the "this game is the end of the world camp". I'm excited by the POs, Spurs are ahead of schedule it is a fact I choose to enjoy it rather than getting worked up about the future and the what ifs.

Denver window is about to close ours is just beginning, if Nuggets fans are happy good for then... watch out what you wish for tho.

 

[LeBowen]

Nuggets were only +6 and only +10 at the end. Not knowing what Denver would do if you sit Victor you pretty much give up the game already. Not the first time third stringers hold a lead in a NBA game or even extend it... game has been frustrating in that regard but again no need to kill ourselves over it. At the end if we play them we will have home court advantage. Now Denver will have to handle MIN, team that has been resting his players last 10 games. That's not an easy first round for them.

I'm not killing myself over it, I just think that our starters didn't take the game seriously and I hope Mitch and Sweeney are on them all day long in the film room.
I just don't think anyone on our roster has earned the benefit of not taking a game seriously.

It will be a first POs run for almost everybody players coaches... we enter in the unknown but we will get there hopefully healthy, hungry, with hca coming off a frustrating loss. Sorry I'm not in the "this game is the end of the world camp". I'm excited by the POs, Spurs are ahead of schedule it is a fact I choose to enjoy it rather than getting worked up about the future and the what ifs.

Everyone is excited and I think we'll give every opponent a run for their money, I just hate that there's a real possibility we'll regret what happened in this game like a month down the road.
I guess it's going to be a valuable lesson for upcoming seasons.

Denver window is about to close ours is just beginning, if Nuggets fans are happy good for then... watch out what you wish for tho.

Not getting past second round in the first playoff appearance is fine, but that mentality of being content with participating shouldn't be a thing until after the elimination.
We're in it and regardless of the inexperience we have a legit chance, why not go for it?

I guess we're lucky Wemby is leading the way because he gets visibly upset whenever there's a lack of effort.

 

[cediskace]

Spurs considered Victor health was the priority rather than go all in to get Denver in the other bracket. Denver chose the midle ground playing Jokic only 18 mn and letting Gordon on the bench. Spurs letting Victor out for the game, they were totally ready to lose that game since the beginning, Jokic mn limitation does not change that. It appears that both don't mind an early confrontation. At the end the one happy team is OKC.

There are pros and cons on the actual situation... Victor a bit more rested, OKC will arrive in the finals not being really tested, Denver Spurs if they meet could be an exhausting dog fight etc etc

At the end it is what it is... Spurs are way ahead of schedule, we have nothing to lose, pressure is on Nuggets that chose that path, unvaluable experience in all cases.

Great season already achieved... Mitch consolidated himself as a solid coach and will be POs tested, Victor is eveything we hoped for and even more, DPOY in the bag, +60 wins season, Castle confirmed, Harper is the real deal and a potential POs run for the ages. If the Spurs wanted to know what they have they will be served.

If you are a Spur fan bitching about dat season or dat final game, you should consult urgently and start watching curling better for your mental health

Denver didn't choose any midle ground by playing Jokic 18 minutes: they just let him play the 15 minutes he needed to reach the 65 games limit. They didn't care about this game, if he had already played 65 games, he wouldn't have played.

That's just a bad loss. That has nothing to do with the incredible season and the legitimate excitation for the PO. But our odds of wining it all probably decreased with this loss...... except if the wolves beat them.

 

[SpursFan86]

Imagine thinking this was the Spurs most important regular season game, tbh

Well, in terms of most impactful...

We ended up getting the 2nd seed by 8 games. You can pick any of our other losses (or even several combined) and the end result of the regular season is unchanged. This loss specifically gave OKC a considerably easier path to the WCF while giving us a more challenging path. I actually don't think it's crazy at all to say this was an extremely impactful loss.

Maybe I'm just not as high on Minnesota as some people here, but I do consider it a noticeably more daunting path to the Finals going through Denver in round 2 vs. Minnesota. I'm not saying it's the end of the world, and I actually am super excited to see Wemby/Jokic duel + think it could be a huge developmental opportunity for Wemby that we look back on saying "it was massively helpful that he got the experience of battling Jokic in his first playoff run"...but last night's loss did meaningfully lower our odds of winning a title while simultaneously raising OKC's odds of making it back to the Finals. IMO You can't say that about any other singular game we played this year, and for that reason I don't see Jason's statement as ludicrous.

*shrugs*

 

[spursistan]

I'm not killing myself over it, I just think that our starters didn't take the game seriously and I hope Mitch and Sweeney are on them all day long in the film room.
I just don't think anyone on our roster has earned the benefit of not taking a game seriously.


Everyone is excited and I think we'll give every opponent a run for their money, I just hate that there's a real possibility we'll regret what happened in this game like a month down the road.
I guess it's going to be a valuable lesson for upcoming seasons.


Not getting past second round in the first playoff appearance is fine, but that mentality of being content with participating shouldn't be a thing until after the elimination.
We're in it and regardless of the inexperience we have a legit chance, why not go for it?

I guess we're lucky Wemby is leading the way because he gets visibly upset whenever there's a lack of effort.

I also think Castle is cut from the same cloth but I don't think Fox is wired like that sadly. He is "too smiley" for my taste in this competitive environment.

 

[cediskace]

I'm not killing myself over it, I just think that our starters didn't take the game seriously and I hope Mitch and Sweeney are on them all day long in the film room.
I just don't think anyone on our roster has earned the benefit of not taking a game seriously.


Everyone is excited and I think we'll give every opponent a run for their money, I just hate that there's a real possibility we'll regret what happened in this game like a month down the road.
I guess it's going to be a valuable lesson for upcoming seasons.


Not getting past second round in the first playoff appearance is fine, but that mentality of being content with participating shouldn't be a thing until after the elimination.
We're in it and regardless of the inexperience we have a legit chance, why not go for it?

I guess we're lucky Wemby is leading the way because he gets visibly upset whenever there's a lack of effort.

exactly. you could say that Denver is maybe our worst matchup in the NBA. and we did pretty well against OKC. and OKC usually does well against Denver.

Making Denver and OKC fight in the second round would have been very important for us. and in my opinion, it would have worth the risk of playing Wemby, except if he was still hampered by his ribs injury, which didn't seem to be the case against the mavs.

 

[scott]

View attachment 1644
The Nuggets were only +6 with Jokic.
Not playing Wemby was the right decision, but everyone else should be embarrassed for getting shit on by G-league Nuggets.
Yes, Valanciunas had a huge advantage, but what about the advantage our perimeter players were supposed to have and got shit on by third stringers over and over again?
If Wemby is going to have to contain every single drive by himself, then we'll be in trouble in the playoffs.


I really dislike the ahead of schedule narrative.
Yes, this has been way better than expected, but why not take advantage of an opportunity that presented itself? Modern NBA is brutal and staying healthy is the most important thing to win a championship. Why not push our two main competitors to kill each other while we get an easier path? It's not a guarantee that our key players will be healthy next year or the year after that.


Mitch has proven he's a good coach when it comes to building a system/indentity, we'll see how he does with mid-series and in-game adjustments when the opponents throw unexpected stuff at us.

For all the shitting on Fox, the game was lost in that -12 when he was sitting on the bench in the 2nd quarter.

 

[spursistan]

Coincidently, I haven't melted down over a Spurs result since i crashed down over Pop horrendous coaching in Game 2 vs the same Nuggets in 2019 which cost us a 2-0 lead in that series on the road..

 

[LeBowen]

For all the shitting on Fox, the game was lost in that -12 when he was sitting on the bench in the 2nd quarter.

Start of the 4th quarter was also bad, we were down 10 and kept trading 3s, they couldn't miss.

I think non-Wemby minutes against lineups that are too fast for Kornet will be our biggest issue that needs to be sorted out.
Kind of how Naz lineups always kill us.