The San Antonio Spurs overcame an 18-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Denver Nuggets 139-136 on Friday at Ball Arena, advancing to the NBA Cup quarterfinals. Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson highlighted the team’s aggressiveness and physicality as key factors in the turnaround.
Johnson pointed to the bench’s contribution in the second half, saying their energy helped sustain competitiveness and shift momentum. “We just sustained that competitiveness and physicality, maybe even turned it up a notch when some of the bench came in. They were phenomenal in the second half,” he explained.
Devin Vassell led San Antonio with a season-high 35 points, including 7-of-9 from three-point range. Johnson praised his aggressiveness and ability to get to the free-throw line, noting it reflected in rebounding and overall physicality. “The 10 free throws is phenomenal. The rebounding for him and Keldon is a reflection of that aggressiveness,” Johnson said.
Julian Champagnie added a career-best 25 points as the Spurs capitalized on Denver’s 17 turnovers, scoring 30 points off mistakes. Johnson also emphasized the defensive effort, especially in navigating screens and limiting easy baskets. “His defensive activity and getting through screens and resistance was just as impressive,” he said.
The Nuggets built a 74-59 halftime lead and extended it to 18 early in the third, but San Antonio outscored Denver 44-30 in the quarter to take a 104-103 lead into the fourth. Johnson attributed the comeback to sustained execution and team chemistry. “A little bit of that too is this group has had some time together finally… the continuity, the chemistry, the execution is hard to find, and it feels like this group has settled in for a short amount of time,” he noted.
Both teams were shorthanded, with Spurs stars Victor Wembanyama (calf) and Stephon Castle (hip) out, while Denver was missing Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Christian Braun (ankle). Johnson acknowledged that finding balance without key players has been a challenge, but he remains confident in the team’s growing identity.
Looking ahead, Johnson expressed excitement about the Spurs’ advancement and preparation for the next round. “We’re in because we won… we feel really good about it. We’ll find out tomorrow who we play and there’ll be two more really good teams, and we’ll just keep pushing this thing forward,” he said.
The Spurs travel to Minnesota on Sunday, while the Nuggets face Phoenix on Saturday, both on the second night of back-to-back games. San Antonio’s performance under pressure highlighted their depth and ability to adapt, even in the absence of their top stars.
