For the sixth year in a row, the San Antonio Spurs seem destined for the NBA draft lottery, although unlike in last season, it’s not directly due to a lack of talent. Instead, season-ending injuries to Victor Wembanayma and De’Aaron Fox ended the season before the team could make a playoff push, although the remaining players aren’t ready to call it quits quite yet.
The Spurs are riding a three-game winning streak and enter their next three games against the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics with supreme confidence.
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While the Spurs, in theory, can lose to any team on any given night, they’ve decided to flip that narrative on its head: they can beat anyone on any given night.
Mar 21, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (0) and guard Devin Vassell (24) react to a basket during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Frost Bank Center. © Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images
“We’re playing every game to win, and that’s always been our MO, just staying competitive, staying locked in on defense, is going to trigger a lot of wins for us, truthfully,” said Devin Vassell after a defensive masterclass in a win over the Toronto Raptors.
Still, the Spurs are a below .500 team, and while they have reasons to be proud of recent efforts, there is still plenty of room to improve.
“We need to pick up our physicality, especially on the defensive end, and when we do pick up our physicality, we cause a lot of turnovers,” said Vassell, who has preached turning defense into easy offense.
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It’s easy to chalk up the recent three wins to either flukes or meeting weak opponents, but acting head coach Mitch Johnson has started implementing a “we don’t care who you are” mentality, and it seems to be bringing success to the team.
Related: Spurs’ Devin Vassell is Back at the Top of His Game, The Timing is Less Than Ideal
“This league doesn’t care who’s available or who’s in the lineup or what your record is,” explained Johnson. “I think we have some guys who are impacting winning or learning what it takes to impact winning, and that will be valuable from now until forever. So as long as we can bottle that up, grow in that regard, and be more consistent, good things will come.”
If the Spurs’ opponents don’t see them as a threat, the Spurs will give them the same (lack of) respect. Led by Jeremy Sochan, the Spurs are young and inexperienced but they don’t mind being mean, tough, and in the face and under the skin of opponents.
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