All five of the San Antonio Spurs' starters played over 44 minutes in their Game 1 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, and with only one day of rest, managing their recovery is key to success later in the series.
The plan after the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals?
Don't do a thing.
Devin Vassell cracked 50 minutes, all five of the Spurs' starters played over 44 minutes, and Mitch Johnson kept a tight, nine-man rotation. After limiting Luke Kornet and Harrison Barnes' action, really only seven players saw the floor for the Silver and Black.
Heading into Game 2 on Wednesday night, Spurs' brass wouldn't have minded if the team stayed in bed, spent the day in an ice bath, or otherwise relaxed.
They earned it.
Mitch Johnson Reveals Spurs' Recovery Plan
The Spurs did not practice on Tuesday, nor did they hold a team shootaround. Considering they didn't have to travel, that's rare, especially for the playoffs.
"We won't ask them to do anything other than sit in a couple of chairs and watch some film," said Johnson after the Spurs' Herculean effort. "So their recovery will be from the minute that the clock hits zero after double overtime until 7:30. Whatever else they do, I don't care. That's on the rest of the staff. We need them to play whatever minutes they need to, in addition to acknowledging the style that we want to play, that we won't sacrifice that for people's minutes."
There were times when Johnson was tempted to send the subs in, just to allow his stars to get a much-needed break. But, after some consideration, he decided to stick with what worked.
"We need to get the guys that we want to finish to the finish line," Johnson added. "And that was my biggest concern, probably at some point during the second quarter and up into the fourth quarter. And they superseded my expectations."
The Spurs, especially Victor Wembanyama, did not look fatigued down the stretch. They might be sore today, but fans are expecting them to come out of the gate swinging, hoping to steal two straight games in Oklahoma City.
For the second game in a row, the Spurs are 6.5-point underdogs, but and we now know they won't get De'Aaron Fox back in the lineup; he's been ruled out for Game 2. Still ... staying the course - Fox missed Game 1 as well - might just be enough.
