For 24 minutes, it didn’t look like a blowout. Inside the Frost Bank Center, the San Antonio Spurs found themselves in a game that felt tighter than expected. The Dallas Mavericks weren’t backing down, trading shots, matching energy, and riding a red-hot first half from Cooper Flagg that kept the crowd uneasy.
San Antonio hadn’t separated—not yet. But Victor Wembanyama was determined to make sure his team would not go down, not on this night. Wembanyama was doing what he always does, gliding through
defenders, scoring with ease, impacting every inch of the floor. Still, Dallas lingered. Every Spurs push met with a Mavericks answer. Every hint of a run dissolved into another close stretch.
At halftime, the message wasn’t about urgency. It was about control. And when the Spurs came back out, everything changed.
The third quarter didn’t begin with a roar—it built into one. De’Aaron Fox took command first, slowing the game just enough to speed it up where it mattered. He dissected Dallas’ defense possession by possession, threading passes, collapsing the lane, and making the right read every time. The offense started to breathe.
“He’s by far the most capable on our team of understanding the pulse of the game,” Spurs Head Coach Mitch Johnson said of Fox. “I think we’ve seen that from him time and time again and that’s exactly what we need as the playoffs arrive.”
Then it started to sprint. Wembanyama followed, turning control into chaos—for Dallas. He scored inside, stretched the floor, cleaned the glass, and erased any thought of resistance. What had been a game suddenly felt like a showcase.
And the Mavericks? They cracked.
Shots stopped falling. Possessions grew frantic. A team that couldn’t miss in the first half suddenly couldn’t buy a basket. Meanwhile, the Spurs kept coming: wave after wave, bucket after bucket. By the time the fourth quarter arrived, the tension was gone. So was the doubt. San Antonio didn’t just pull away—they buried the game.
The final score, 139-120, told part of the story. But it didn’t capture the shift—the moment when a competitive night turned into a statement. Wembanyama finished with 40 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists, another effortless display of dominance that somehow continues to feel routine. Fox added 18 points and 10 assists, quietly orchestrating the turning point that broke the game open.
“It feels good,” Wembanyama said of meeting the 65-game requirements for post season awards. “It feels like a box that’s checked. It was a season where a lot of things happened and this is a good conclusion for it.”
Around them, the Spurs played like a team that knows exactly who it is. Shots fell. The ball moved. The pace never dipped. What looked ordinary in the first half became overwhelming in the second.
Dallas had its moments, despite the loss. Cooper Flagg’s 33 points made sure of that. But moments weren’t enough. Not against a team that can shift gears like this.
Because that’s what this game became. A reminder.
The Spurs don’t need four quarters to beat you. Sometimes, all it takes is one. And when they find it, there’s not much anyone can do to stop what comes next.
Game Notes
- Mitch Johnson said Wembanayama may miss Sunday’s game against Denver due to rest, but conversations will happen before. Meanwhile, Wemby says he would not be surprised if that’s the case.
- Carter Bryant is playing with such confidence as the regular season closes and the postseason set to begin. That makes a much more dangerous Spurs team going into the first round. The rookie finished with 12 points off the bench, connecting on all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.
