Welcome to Week in Review: a Monday feature that looks back at the week that was for the San Antonio Spurs, takes a look at the week ahead, and more. Enjoy!
Week 23: The Spurs swept an easy three-game road trip against the slumping Heat and tanking Grizzlies and Bucks, becoming the first team in NBA history to win four straight road games by 25 or more points (including their win in Sacramento the week before). They also secured their first Southwest Division title since 2017 (not that it has any
meaning these days) and their third 8-game winning streak of the season.
Week 24: 3-1 (59-19, 2nd in West)
In their only home game in two weeks, it wasn’t the Spurs’ best effort against a depleted Bulls team eliminated from the play-in, but after a back-and-forth first half, they rode a 41-point game from Victor Wembaynama and a strong third quarter to victory despite an admirable effort from former Spur Tre Jones in his return to the Frost Bank Center.
127-113 win at Golden State Warriors
In a similar situation as the Bulls game, the Spurs returned to the the road to face a depleted Warriors team that featured Draymond Green — who battled foul trouble all night — plus a bunch of “who he play for” candidates (although, unlike the Bulls, they still had something to play for). The Spurs again were a bit complacent and didn’t have their finest outing, but they stayed ahead and never let the Warriors get within single-digits in the second half while riding Wemby’s second straight 41-point outing.
118-99 win at Los Angeles Clippers
Who needs 41 points from Wemby? Despite him sitting on the second night of a back-to-back and old nemesis Kawhi Leonard being his usual, productive self for the Clippers, they were no match for the Spurs’ dynamic guard trio of De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, who combined for 62 points and 15 assists. After owning the first half, the Spurs overcame a bit of a scare from the Clippers in the third quarter to once again dominate the fourth and sweep the season series against a potential first round opponent. It was also their first sweep of Kawhi since his ugly departure.
124-136 OT loss at Denver Nuggets
Well, maybe the Spurs could have used 41 from Wemby in this game. In what could be an amazing second round match-up, he continued his run of MVP-level play with 34 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 blocks, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Nikola Jokic’s 40-8-13-3 game. The Spurs led most of the way despite it not being their finest showing, but too many mistakes in the final minute finally caught up with them, and they couldn’t get the looks they wanted in OT to secure the victory.
Power Rankings
John Schuhmann, NBA.com — 2 (last week: 2)
OffRtg: 118.6 (5) DefRtg: 110.2 (3) NetRtg: +8.4 (2) Pace: 100.8 (12)
From Feb. 1 to April 1, the Spurs went 26-1 with Victor Wembanyama in uniform, outscoring their opponents by an amazing 24.9 points per 100 possessions in his 800 minutes on the floor. But that wasn’t good enough to catch the Thunder, and the Spurs’ overtime loss to the Nuggets on Saturday afternoon has them three games back of Oklahoma City with four games to play.
One takeaway
The loss on Saturday was the first time this season (in three meetings) that Wembanyama had played against Denver, and it was the Spurs’ worst defensive game (136 points allowed on 107 possessions) since December. The Nuggets shot just 21-for-41 (51%) in the paint, but were 9-for-14 from mid-range and 9-for-19 on corner 3-pointers.
The Spurs lead the league in the percentage of their opponents’ shots (13%) that have come from mid-range and have the seventh highest opponent corner rate (percentage of their opponents’ 3-point attempts that come from the corners), and Denver is uniquely qualified to keep Wembanyama occupied and have five shooters on the floor. The Nuggets’ nine players who’ve shot 38% or better on at least 100 3-point attempts are three more than any other team has.
What to watch for this week
While the Spurs aren’t quite locked into the 2 seed in the West (and the second best record overall), they’re close. But to qualify for awards consideration, Wembanyama needs to play in three more games, logging at least 20 minutes in two of the three and at least 15 minutes in the third. The Spurs are the only team without any more road games and while their season finale against Denver might not mean anything to them, there’s a chance it will determine whether the Nuggets pass the shorthanded Lakers in the standings and become a potential opponent in the second round.
Law Murray, The Athletic — 2 (last week: 1)
2026 playoff prediction from Week 1: 10th in West (earn eighth in Play-In Tournament), lose West quarterfinals vs. Thunder
I thought the Spurs would sneak into the playoffs; they’re close to being the top seed in the entire conference. And while alien overlord Victor Wembanyama has been a devastating force on both ends, the Spurs needed more players to emerge to be a great team this season. Mitch Johnson did a wonderful job of getting all of his guards (All-Star De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and reserve rookie Dylan Harper) to work in concert with one another as well. This season, San Antonio went 11-5 with Wembanyama out of the lineup and has only lost the lineups with Wembanyama off the floor by 17 points all season. Last year, the Spurs were 13-23 with Wembanyama out while getting outscored by 328 points with Wembanyama off the floor.
Brett Siegel, Clutch Points — 2 (last week: 1)
The San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama saw their 11-game win streak snapped in overtime against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, a game that essentially ends their pursuit of the 1-seed in the West. This loss also impacts Wembanyama’s valiant MVP chase against Gilgeous-Alexander, despite his 34-18-7-5 performance.
This has been an incredible year for the Spurs, and they will enter the playoffs with a lot of confidence as a young team. It will be interesting to see how they shift their focus and respond to the pressure that comes with the postseason, especially after losing this playoff-like game to Denver on Saturday.
One final regular-season battle with Nikola Jokic and his squad will come on the final day of the regular season in San Antonio, a game both teams will desperately want to win entering the postseason.
Coming up: Mon. 4/6 vs. Philadelphia 76ers (43-35); Wed. 4/8 vs. Portland Trail Blazers (4-38); Fri. 4/10 Dallas Mavericks (25-53); Sun. 4/12 vs. Denver Nuggets
Prediction: 3-1 — For a team that is one loss or Thunder win away from locked in place, there is still a surprising amount to play for, and all against teams with something to play for as well. Finishing the regular season entirely at home, they face 76ers, Blazers and Nuggets teams that are all battling for seeding in their conferences, and even though the Mavs are eliminated, Cooper Flagg has been on a historical tear over last week, possibly ripping the the Rookie of the Year award from his former college teammate Kon Knueppel’s hands, so they can’t be slept on.
On the Spurs side, it’s nearly impossible to predict what they’ll do. As Schuhmann points out, Wemby needs to play in at least three games while reaching 20 min in two of them and 15 in one to remain award eligible (and you can bet he will after missing the 65-game limit last year). But the Spurs can also play a but of a role in who they face in the playoffs, depending on how the week goes. Portland needs one more win than the Clippers to snag the 8th seed (assuming they stay in 2nd, the Spurs would face the winner of 7th vs. 8th), and of course, there’s the chaotic 3-5 race in the West that got even wilder thanks injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves. Depending on where things stand for their regular season finale against Denver, the Spurs might be strategic with how they approach that game since you can bet they’d rather see the Lakers or Rockets in the second round over the Nuggets.
This is all a long-winded way of me saying that if I had to guess, they’ll continue to strategically rest players while still putting out nearly a full compliment every night, especially considering they’ll get a whole week off before the playoffs, so they don’t want to create to wide of a gap between games played at full strength. Still, that uncertainty and the determination opponents will have is what has me predicting 3-1 (and 4-0 or 2-2 wouldn’t surprise me).
