The San Antonio Spurs toppled the Denver Nuggets to advance in the NBA Cup to the knockout stage. Devin Vassell had a phenomenal game, although he wasn't the only player to catch fire.
The San Antonio Spurs are celebrating a 139-136 NBA Cup win over the Denver Nuggets. The Silver and Black came back from down 18 points to punch their ticket to the knockout stage for the first time in franchise history.
With their only cup loss coming to the Golden State Warriors, the Spurs were able to topple the Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, and Houston Rokcets in Cup play. Devin Vassell stole the show with 35 efecient points for the Spurs, althouigh it was a total team effort.
Both De'Aaron Fox (12 assists) and Julian Chamopagnie (10 rebounds) recorded double-doubles. The Spurs made it an effort to drive and kick all night, although Champagnie and Keldon Johnson's ability to crash the glass and get second-chance points for the Spurs did not go overlooked.
"I think the ten free throws is phenomenal," said Mitch Johnson of Champagnie, who was able to draw contact and get ten easy points from the charity stripe.
"I think the rebounding for him and Keldon is a lot of times also a reflection of that aggressiveness and physicality," added the coach. "Ten rebounds, three offensive, and we still got nine threes up, which typically means whether he was getting fouls, crashing to the boards, getting out in transition, or they were running him off the three. But the way that Denver likes to protect the paint, we knew we'd have to get some paint touches. But a lot of times, that was gonna be spray out or kick out. So our teammates thought we did a really good job of that, especially when we settled in and played out of our defense."
Without Fox, Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle, or Victor Wembanyama for long stretches this season, the Spurs have still been able to thrive. They stand in fourth place in the Western Conference.
Granted, they have benefited from a fairly easy schedule, although a come-from-behind win over the Nuggets, especially with very real stakes, is nothing to sneeze at. The Spurs look the part of contenders, and with their young roster, any game with stakes is valuable.
If the likes of Vassell, Champagnie, and Johnson can step up with or without the best players in the lineup, the Spurs will be a dangerous team moving forward, especially if everyone buys into their role as depth pieces for the rest of the season.
The Spurs will take on the Los Angeles Lakers on December 10 in the knockout stage of the Cup.