The Spurs finally unlocked it...

Nobody on the Spurs played more than 27 minutes against Utah, and they still won by 22, 119-97. Victor Wembanyama took 15 shots and scored 12 points. San Antonio led by as much as 26. Utah scored 97, the first time this season anybody has been held under 100 points by the Spurs. So how do you win like that with nobody carrying it? Because the Spurs finally unlocked it. Let's go back two weeks. This team did not look anything like this. The Spurs lost their first two games to OKC on October 20th to Houston on October 23rd. And after the first win at Dallas on October 24th, Mitch Johnson said, quote, our floor right now is way too low. Since then, it's five wins in a row. Dallas, Sacramento by 27, Utah on the road in OT, Minnesota by 10, and Utah now by 22. That first Utah game on October 28th was a scary one. It went to overtime, 117-111, after Utah tied it in regulation. Mitch Johnson even took the blame after that last game against Utah for not calling that timeout with 4.9 seconds left, which left De'Aaron Fox throwing up a 30-footer at the buzzer. Wemby had 36 and 14 to save that one. Five days later, same two teams, and it's not close. Not at all. Utah led that night just for the first minute. One marking and jumper, and the Spurs never trailed again. Seven different Spurs scored in double figures, with some more players coming very close, but the top scorer was Dylan Harper, and he only had 17 of the team's 119. Castle had 16, Keldon 15, Barnes 13, Fox 12, Wemby 12, and Devin Vassell 11. They had 27 assists to 12 turnovers. Utah had 16 assists. And the minutes tell you why the ball was moving around so much for San Antonio. Harper and Keldon Johnson each led the team with only about 27 minutes. All 12 Spurs played and shared in that 240 minutes. And Harper himself finished with a solid 17.7 rebounds and 8 assists to go with it in those 27 minutes, plus two steals to boot. Three rebounds and two assists short of a triple-double, and he never needed more than 27 minutes to get there. Yeah, and so far this year, Harper is averaging 18.3 points, 5.7 boards, 5.3 assists through seven games. This is right in line with his season, but also he's leading the team in a game where Wemby couldn't quite get it going. It's very impressive. This video is brought to you by Kalsi, where you're trading against real users, not the house like traditional sports books. You're buying yes or no contracts on real life events like the weather, like politics, like your San Antonio Spurs, and like Victor Wemby, as he has a chance to win MVP. Though 12 points isn't going to help his case, he's still right up there at the top. So if you're interested in trying out Kalsi, use the link in the pinned comment or description down below. Use code DIGESTNBA when you trade your first 20. Plus, the efficiency is there. Harper was 6 for 10 from the field, 4 for 5 at the charity stripe, and the Spurs were a plus 16 when he was on the floor. The impact is incredible. Harrison Barnes went three of four from three for 13 points, including a 29 footer off a Wemby pass. And yes, we have to talk more about the Barnes meme. Yeah, Harrison Barnes, the master of rage baiting in this one. I'm hoping that we'll see this picture for many days, months, and maybe years to come. We'll have to wait and see. Five days earlier, Wemby had 36 and 14 in Utah. This time only needed 12 because everyone else was open. 27-16 after quarter one, then the Spurs went on an 18-2 run starting after a flagrant one on Vassell, and it was 59-49 at halftime. 18 of the 27 assists came before half. Yeah, the ball was flying around in that first half, although Utah did actually win the second quarter 33-32 to get within one, but the Spurs crushed them in the third. 35-20, the lead quickly went up to 25 and they never looked back. Castle actually said the second half was, quote, just not getting bored on what was working. That's the whole game plan. He chipped in a lot himself with 16 points on 7-16 shooting, coming back from the migraine last game, not to mention a plus 24 as well. The starting five of Harper, Castle, Vassell, Fox, and Wemby, they scored 68 of the 119 for the San Antonio Spurs. The bench scored the other 51, 57% from the starters and 43 off the bench. Almost half of the offense came from the guys who didn't start. And that's been a story this year. The bench has been a bit hit or miss, some great games, some not so great games, but this was a perfect showcase. Keldon Johnson led the bench with 15 points in his. Tied for team lead, 27 minutes, and Vassell was a plus 26. Castle, plus 24, but maybe one of the sneakier ones that we'll dive into a little later. Luke Cornette, a plus 17, third best on the team. A wing, a guard, and a backup center. Not three typical names that you could pick out of a lineup, and that's the point for the San Antonio Spurs. It comes in many different ways. And maybe the wildest part of this whole game is that you can win by 20 points, and you don't need one guy to carry it, as we mentioned earlier. Wemby's 12 points. Were the lowest he's had in seven games matching that season opener against OKC, he's averaging 25.7 points and 10.7 rebounds on the season, but he only shot 5 for 15 and 0 for 5 from 3 in this one with 5 turnovers. Over the last four games before this, 28.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4 blocks per game. But look at everything else. 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 5 assists, including the pass to Harrison Barnes on the 29-footer. Two days earlier, scored 43 against Minnesota and was the Western Conference Player of the Week for October 26th and November 1st. And that's the thing for these Spurs. This team can win with Wemby going off or they can win with Wemby deferring. And no team can possibly plan for both outcomes. Don't forget what Fox said on November 1st. He said Wemby is, quote, probably the best lob threat ever. And look, we're seeing a lot of games where Wemby's gravity is completely changing everything. With Fox and Wemby on the floor together, the Spurs are an insane plus 96 over 213 possessions. And Mitch Johnson called the way the ball finds them, quote, a triangulation of harmony. But one of the big stories in this game was the interior defense from San Antonio. San Antonio won the points in the paint 52-36. Utah only scored 36 points in the paint, and they lost by 22. The Spurs were giving them absolutely nothing to work with. The Jazz had five more field goal attempts than the San Antonio Spurs, 96-91, and scored 22 fewer points. Utah shot only 35% from the floor, going 34-96. Yeah, and Utah's 16 points in the first quarter was also its lowest quarter one total of the season. They only went 12 of 34 from 3, and the Spurs managed to pick up 6 steals on them too. And on the subject of big men, Laurie Markkinen, 22-8, and it wasn't nearly enough. The Spurs blocked seven shots, three by Wemby, one by Cornett, and Terrence Reed Jr. The rebounds did actually finish 53-53, but the Spurs won it everywhere else. And the one blemish was Utah grabbing 17 offensive rebounds to San Antonio's nine. They got the second chances, but don't forget, it still took them 96 shots to get 97 points. Even though Utah got the ball back, the Spurs were not letting them score that easy. And the reason is the big man rotation, which is three deep now. Wemby played 24 minutes, 12 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks. Luke Cornett played 17 minutes, eight points on 100% shooting, three of three from the floor, five rebounds, two assists, one block, and he was a plus 17. Terrace Reed played seven minutes. In those seven minutes, four points, but seven rebounds, three of them offensive. Added up, those three covered 48 minutes, scored 24 points, but grabbed 23 of the team's 53 rebounds. Cornett and Reed played 24 minutes between them, the same as Wemby, and had 12 points and 12 rebounds. They also had two of the seven blocks, and that's why fans want more Terrace Reed, too. Seven rebounds in seven minutes is absolutely absurd, but it's not an outlier for him. This has clearly become a trend. Reporting says Mitch Johnson is sticking with Cornett at backup center and Cornett gave him a plus 17 and 17 minutes. Both of these can be true. The way you see it, it's not a choice. Wemby, Cornett and Reed is a rotation and all three did their job. And Reid's story is one that we just have to keep coming back to. Fans have been clamoring for more Reid minutes. And don't forget, in the preseason, he had 17 rebounds against this same Utah team in a game where he scored only four points. He led the preseason with nine and a half rebounds a game. And then after October 25th, he said, quote, that's my game. That's what San Antonio brought me here to do, to rebound. And he sure showed that tonight. Devin Vassell called him, quote, a walking 10 boards back in October. So fans are asking for more Reed after a night like this is not a surprise. Cornett is interesting, too. His season line is now up to 3.1 points and 4.4 rebounds over seven games. So eight points and five boards on three of three does kind of stand out. And also, to be fair, the Spurs were a minus four and Reed seven minutes, but it wasn't representative of the game as a whole. So the case for more minutes is not necessarily closed because Cornett. He also didn't turn it over once in his 17, but this is definitely a battle where both guys are going to continually have to prove themselves, and I think that's nothing but a good thing. That's why you can't just swap them. Cornett is a plus 17 guy and Reid is a guy who grabs a rebound a minute. Tell us in the comments who should be the backup center, Luke Cornett or Terrace Reid Jr.? So the payoff to this rotation working top through bottom is five straight wins since October 24th. Five and two on the season, on pace for 80 wins and two losses, of course, all after losing the first two games. And Keldon Johnson said, quote, we have yet to play our best. brand of basketball, and that is maybe the scariest part. Utah came in at 1-5, no Jaron Jackson Jr., no Yusuf Nurkic, so you can discount it some, but the minutes, the assists, and the paint are not things a bad opponent hands you. It all started with the ball moving, and it looks like it's moving for good. That's what unlocked it. Next up, Dallas comes to San Antonio on Wednesday night. That's the team the Spurs beat on October 24th for their first win of the season, so there's a simple test coming up. Does the ball keep moving when the other team has a game plan for it? Can the Spurs depth step up? Will the big men continue their strong performances? Utah didn't have an answer, but we're about to see if Dallas does. And Terrace Reed's performance, what if his minutes do increase? What will he be able to produce on the floor? Because seven rebounds in seven minutes just shows you the capabilities in which he has. But if you want more Spurs, the next video is on your screen right now. Go and watch it.