In a game that had no business being this thrilling, the San Antonio Spurs, battered and without their towering phenom Victor Wembanyama, walked into the lion’s den of Ball Arena and pulled off a heist for the ages. They stunned the Denver Nuggets 139-136, roaring back from an 18-point hole to punch their ticket to the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not in Denver, where the air is thin, and the Nuggets had been nearly invincible on the road. But at home? They’d been struggling, and the Spurs, smelling blood in the water, made them pay dearly for their third straight loss in their own building.
The Spurs’ Unlikely Heroes Emerge
Without Wembanyama‘s 7-foot-4 frame patrolling the paint, the Spurs were undersized and seemingly overmatched. The script was written for a Nuggets blowout. But someone forgot to give the script to Devin Vassell. The man was simply unconscious, a walking bucket who decided he was not going to let his team lose. Vassell erupted for a season-high 35 points, splashing home a staggering 7 of 9 from beyond the arc. Every time the Nuggets thought they had a sliver of breathing room, Vassell was there with a dagger, a cold-blooded triple that silenced the 19,000-plus in attendance.
But he wasn’t alone. Julian Champagnie, stepping up massively, played the game of his life. He notched a season-best 25 points and, crucially, grabbed 10 rebounds, fighting for every loose ball against a much bigger Denver frontcourt. His perfect 10-for-10 performance from the free-throw line was the steady hand the Spurs needed in a sea of madness. San Antonio as a team was clinical from the stripe, sinking 30 of 32 attempts, turning every Denver foul into precious, game-altering points.