What We Learned From The Spurs Win Over The Jazz

“Are they going to put Wemby back in?”

It was an excellent question, and one that I had myself.

It was, in a way, the question of the season so far when it comes to a Spurs team that has scuffled quite a bit coming out of the gate.

The starting unit, forced into a new configuration by the ascension of the prodigious Dylan Harper, has looked disjointed and seems to do its scoring in fits and starts.

The bench, on the other hand, seems almost lost — unmoored without the steady hand of the rookie who led it for most of last season.

The one player holding everything together has been, somewhat predictably, Wembanyama, and the better part of almost every game has seemed to hinge on his presence and the antigravity of his occasional absence.

But, to paraphrase an episode of Cartoon Network’s Samurai Jack, even the gods must rest, and for all his gifts, Wemby is not a god.

With nine minutes left in a game that the shorthanded Utah Jazz had spent clawing for every point, Mitch Johnson had made the call to give Wemby a quick breather.

That seemed reasonable. Wemby would catch his breath and then jump right back in, right? Right?

The Spurs were clinging to a six point lead when Wemby headed for the sideline, and Spurs Twitter was awash with (understandable) anxiety.

The Spurs had trailed for most of the first half and had finally clawed their way to a lead, but it was a tenuous bargain with a scoreboard that seemed determined to forsake its oath to the Silver and Black. In fact, I was beginning to doubt its fealty altogether.

With every Wemby exit, betrayal was in the air, and San Antonio’s 2nd unit (and Luke Kornet in particular) were bearing the brunt of the Jazz’s unholy pact with the jumbotron.

Utah had shot nearly 60% from the field in the 3rd quarter, and it felt like they were heating up again.

Everything seemed to be going in. The post was a turnstile. The rim was actively thwarting San Antonio’s short-armed stabs at conversion. It was getting dramatic. Catastrophic, even.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the atmosphere more closely resembled that of a postseason contest rather than game 5 of 82, on a Wednesday night in late October.

I’m not ashamed to say that I got caught up in it a little myself.

When you’re an avid fan of a sports team, there’s this bizarre and inexplicable fusion that occurs. It’s not quite empathy per se, but an identification that spans the gap between the professionals on the court and the plebeians on the couch.

You get to feel an echo of their joy and the spectre of their pain. Their wins make you hopeful for your own, but their losses can do the inverse.

It’s silly, and strange, and wonderfully human.

And somehow, it allows for a communion between disparate individuals that feels like alchemy — a group connection that pulls you into a maelstrom of emotion and connection.

It’s damn near irresistible, which is probably why I found myself loudly bemoaning the appearance of Kornet as Wemby trotted off, in spite of my long-standing fondness for The Big Elote.

And to be fair, Kornet’s been a shadow of his 2025-26 self, carrying with him the play that (unfortunately) defined San Antonio’s big-man deficit in the NBA Finals.

I’m not sure it’s a playoff hangover, or a crisis of confidence, or a small nagging injury of some sort, but the Kornet of the Western Conference Finals has yet to be seen, and, as a fellow Spurs fan pointed out, the Spurs have been hemorrhaging points during his limited stints.

Within a minute, the game was tied again.

Devin Vassell (who had been cold most of the night) and Stephon Castle were doing their best to keep things from getting ugly on the offensive end, keeping pace with a Jazz team that clearly smelled blood.

With six-and-a-half minutes left in the game, Will Hardy called a timeout.

Finally, a break! Mitch could substitute Wemby in without using a valuable timeout of his own.

And without hesitation, he subbed Keldon Johnson in for Julian Champagnie, the Spurs’ best three-point shooter.

What?? The confusion was widespread. What about Wemby? What about the lead?

“Are they going to put Wemby back in?” my daughter inquired from her end of the couch.

She really only recognizes three players: Devin (my name), Fox (a favorite animal), and Wemby, but having retired from her coloring book for the evening, she was now peppering me with questions as she crawled over to lean against my knees.

“Yeah, they’re gonna put Wemby in real soon.”

Ten seconds later San Antonio’s skipper called a timeout of his own.

Oh. I guess it was just a mistake. Not ideal, but not costly, I guess.

No substitution at all? I could hear the consternation as if I were within the confines of a fan section at the Frost Bank Center.

I had to bottle up any profanity for the sake of the five-year-old lounging against my knees, but I was silently livid.

And my daughter, attuned to adult emotion in that way that we don’t give children enough credit for, cheerily reassured me.

“It’s okay, I see Devin,” she said as she patted my leg consolingly.

Almost as if on cue, Vassell sunk a 20-footer in the face of the defense.

About time, I thought to myself. But Vassell had been shooting better for most of the quarter, even if I had failed to notice.

“See!” she said elatedly, displaying the kind of childlike credulity that gospels allude to.

Little did either of us know that her three favorite players were about to take us on a magic carpet ride out of danger and into the win column.

Vassell hit two more shots on passes from Wemby, which proved (along with a tip-in from Keldon and a buzzer-beating miss from Fox) to be just enough to get the Spurs to overtime.

And it was there that Vassell and Co. picked up right where they left off, with all but two of San Antonio’s points scored or assisted on by Devin, Fox, and Wemby.

The icing on the cake was a steal and a racing dunk from Fox with less than a minute left. Its parallel as an opposite to his endlessly replayed hesitation in the Finals wasn’t lost on me.

“I told you it would be okay.”

“You were right. I guess I should listen to you more.”

“Yeah, you should.”

I think Billy Joel has a song about women always being women at every phase of life, or something like that.

No argument here, though. I’ve got a lot of childlike believing to do if I want to enter the kingdom of heaven. How much do I have to have for another Finals win, though?

I guess we’ll find out.

It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a Nina Simone song.

I think I’ll take the win while I can.

Takeaways

• I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both Kornet and Keldon have had such a rough/inconsistent start to the season, with Harper spending so much time with the starters. Yes, Mitch has made sure to keep at least one of the star guards on when the bench takes their turn, but that’s not the same thing as the consistency that the 2nd unit experienced with Harper running it. Hopefully, Harper will get more time with the bench once Tobias Harris returns from injury (though the starting unit will then have to adapt to that), as both Keldon and Kornet benefited greatly from his presence; if not, I think it would be ideal to at least use one of the guards consistently with the 2nd unit, so that they can build a rhythm and rapport.
• Last year Kornet was the only real option as a backup for Wemby, but the San Antonio braintrust might want to consider giving Tarris Reed some run on nights that Kornet doesn’t seem to have it. Of course, it’s possible that the bench will continue having issues until the guard issue is somewhat resolved. But hey, why not give it the old college try? He might be a rookie, but Reed has a serious motor, and some considerable heft. If nothing else, the change of pace might come in handy when a team is making easy work of Kornet’s defensive efforts.
• It’s early yet, but two things are beginning to stick out as minor trends: 1. The Spurs have really cracked down on sloppy mistakes, as they’re leading the league in fewest turnovers per game right now. 2. They just can’t seem to get to the line, as they’re the 4th-lowest team in free-throw attempts and have the 3rd-lowest free-throw rate. The first thing is really good, and evidence that the offensive flow feels a bit worse than it is. But the second thing might serve as proof that the lack of spacing is really hurting San Antonio’s ability to drive to the hoop, something that served as a meal ticket last season when shots weren’t falling. The three-guard experiment is a bit of a mixed bag so far, so let’s hope they either figure it out soon or make a change to loosen things up.
• However, in spite of those issues, it’s important to note that the Spurs are still 5th in the NBA in points scored in the paint. That’s because, for the past two games (and most of the season), Wemby has been shoving the ball down the throats of anyone bold enough to meet him around the rim. And when his outside shot is on, as it was last night, he’s nigh unstoppable. Poor Jaxson Hayes looked like he didn’t know whether he was coming or going after two quarters of that. It seems like Wemby’s really dedicated himself to interior scoring this year, and frankly, it’s terrifying.

Playing You Out – The Theme Song of the Evening:

Feeling Good by Nina Simone