There hasn’t been much to learn from the San Antonio Spurs’ 10-game winning streak. Most of the games were against tanking or shorthanded teams, and the result was decided before halftime. With only a handful of games left before the playoffs, there have been murmurings of concern that the young team hasn’t faced enough adversity before the games really start to count.
The Spurs faced plenty of adversity in their 136-134 loss to the Denver Nuggets. Despite leading for 87% of the game, San Antonio couldn’t execute in clutch time, letting go of a 6-point lead with a minute and a half remaining, allowing Denver to force overtime and eventually secure the victory.
Several silly mistakes beat the team. Victor Wembanyama and Julian Champagnie failed to communicate if they were switching screens, which led to Aaron Gordon getting a wide-open dunk after both Spurs defenders went to guard Jokic. De’Aaron Fox fumbled the ball while trying to go between the legs on a jumper over Jokic, and mishandled his dribble, forcing an errant shot. They were too slow to get into their sets, making it hard to run offense. Of course, there was the blown fast break between Fox and Devin Vassell that would have tied the game in overtime.
It may have just been the regular season, but with the Nuggets fighting for the third seed, this felt like a playoff game. The Spurs learned that in a high-stakes game, there is another level of basketball perfection they must reach to win a championship. They have to execute late in the game when the pressure goes up another level. The players and the coaching staff have to find ways to get their best players the ball in advantageous situations to score, even when the opposing team is honing in on them. Then, it’s on those players to make big plays.
The good news is the Spurs learned this lesson without there being actual playoff stakes. They have four more games to right the ship before it really counts. Saturday’s loss showed them there is another level they must get to if they want to contend.