Even though the Spurs’ spot as the 2nd seed in the West was set in stone coming into the regular season finale, they still could have had a say in their second round match-up if they could have beaten the Denver Nuggets. Unfortunately, without their two centers, the Spurs were too small to deal with the Nuggets’ back court, and one big Nuggets run in the second quarter ended up putting them in too big of a hole to climb back out of on the way to a 118-128 loss. Still, they finish the season 62-20
for an impressive 36-game turnaround and are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
De’Aaron Fox led six Spurs in double figures with 24 points, while Julian Strawther led the Nuggets with 25 points, and Nikola Jokic had 23 points and 8 rebounds in one half of play.
Observations
- Both teams entered this game in control of something. The Nuggets needed a win or Lakers loss to remain in the third seed, and the Spurs controlled their second round destiny since beating the Nuggets and a Lakers win would push them down to the fourth seed and into the Thunder’s side of the bracket. That being said, neither team seemed to be too concerned about that, as the Spurs sat Victor Wembanyama (who admitted he would not have played in the Portland game had he not needed a 65th game) and Luke Kornet, while the Nuggets sat almost everyone of note except Jokic, who needed 15 more minutes to also be award eligible.
- No Wemby or Kornet meant Mason Plumlee got the start and Bismack Biyombo was his initial backup, but once again, Carter Bryant ended up being the answer at backup center. He had a great first quarter with 5 points and 3 blocks but, after hitting 8-9 threes over the last few games, hit just 1-7 in this game.
- That being said, the Spurs predictably struggled playing small ball against the likes of Jokic and Jonas Valanciunas, getting out-rebounded 33-18 in the first half. They also had a massive scoring drought for most of the second quarter, not scoring between a De’Aaron Fox three with 10:43 to go and a Vassell three with 2:44 left, during which time they were outscored 22-0 to get down by 23. Fortunately, that three sparked the Spurs to close the half on a 16-7 run, including a near half-court three from Fox at the buzzer to get back within 14, 56-70.
- Jokic got his 18 minutes in the first half and did not play in the second, and while the Spurs offense as better in the third quarter, they still couldn’t get enough stops against a team of “who he play for” Nuggets, nor could they keep them off the line. Four threes in the final two minutes (two from Castle, one from Keldon Johnson and Harrison Barnes) got them within 10 to start the fourth, but they could have been closer without some careless fouls.
- The fourth quarter was pretty much the same story: the center-less Spurs would have a few big plays to get within single digits but just didn’t have enough size to deal with Valanciunus, and they couldn’t get enough stops or hit enough consecutive shots to make an extended run. The result is Denver will be the third seed and potential second round match-up if they get by the Timberwolves in the first round. As for the Spurs, they will face the winner of the 7 vs. 8 play-in game between the Phoenix Sun and Portland Trail Blazers, who finished the season tied with the Clippers but own the tie-breaker.
- Barnes needed 17 points in this game to reach 10 ppg for the season and give the Spurs eight players averaging double figures (hat tip to Jacob Douglas). He came up short with 12 points on 5-11 shooting, 2-5 from three.
Well, that wasn’t a fun regular season finale, but the Spurs are headed back to the playoffs for the first time since 2019, and they should be perfectly healthy and ready to go by then. Get excited, Spurs fans!
