With Devin Vassell ticketed back and a long stretch at home, the Spurs sense a chance to turn a corner.
Spurs guard Keldon Johnson crouched down near the free-throw line at the Frost Bank Center on Thursday and stared up at the mountain before him. Sir Edmund Hilary had Mt. Everest . Johnson had Donovan Clingan .
The Portland center stands 7-foot-2 and 280 pounds. Johnson is 6-5. This was the colossus Johnson was being asked to scale to win a jump ball? The outcome appeared evident to everyone but Johnson. “Oh, I knew I was going to win it,” Johnson said. “I’ve got bounce.” Asked to assess the odds of Johnson winning that third-quarter jump against the Trail Blazers' titan, forward Julian Champagnie figured they were about as likely as the Spurs’ next home game getting called on account of snow. “For real?” Champagnie said, pondering the question. “Zero.” SPURS NATION NEWSLETTER: The best Spurs coverage in Alamo City, delivered to your inbox Johnson somehow beat Clingan to the tip, proving that even the most daunting peaks are surmountable to those who are confident and crazy enough to try. There is an object lesson there somewhere for the Spurs, still early in a season-long climb that has yet to reach base camp. The Spurs used an all-around scoring effort that put eight players in double figures to beat the Trail Blazers 118-103, boosting their record to 4-5. That mark in itself represents progress. A season ago, the Spurs did not pick up their fourth victory until Dec. 14, when they beat the Los Angeles Lakers to end an 18-game losing skid and improve to 4-20. Thursday's triumph over Portland was one of the Spurs’ more satisfying of the season, coming a night after they were bludgeoned in Houston 127-100. “Second night of a back-to-back, and we got punched in the mouth ,” Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson said. “So the reaction and response was awesome.” The Spurs head into a Saturday afternoon matinee against Utah at the Frost Bank Center looking to put a capstone on what has been a trying week. RELATED: As Spurs start homestand, questions about Gregg Popovich's health remain unanswered The Spurs have been without coach Gregg Popovich for four games, the Hall of Famer sidelined for medical reasons. Johnson, Popovich’s 37-year-old assistant, has filled in ably, guiding the Spurs to a 2-2 mark. If that were not enough, the team lost forward Jeremy Sochan to a broken thumb suffered in the first half of Monday’s loss at the Los Angeles Clippers. Sochan had been off to a stellar start, averaging 15.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and three assists while performing as perhaps the Spurs’ most important defensive player not named Victor Wembanyama. That the Spurs were able to weather all that and go .500 throughout the week says something. “We have some fight,” Champagnie said. “One guy goes down, one guy steps up. It’s just the name of the game.” Meanwhile, the Spurs got some good news that will shuffle their lineup again in a more positive way. Shooting guard Devin Vassell, who had been out since the early summer recovering from foot surgery, has been cleared for basketball activity. He is projected to make his season debut on the Spurs’ current homestand, perhaps as soon as Saturday against the Jazz. Vassell was the Spurs’ second-leading scorer last season at 19.5 points per game and should provide the Spurs’ flagging offense with an extra jolt. “He’s going to be a major part of our story,” Wembanyama said. “We can’t wait to get back to getting better together.” Before the season began, it was assumed the Spurs’ starting lineup would experience a crunch when Vassell returned. Sochan’s injury, though unfortunate, simplifies things. RELATED: Spurs' Devin Vassell nearing return from offseason surgery Johnson had been using rookie Stephon Castle in the starting lineup for the past two games. It is likely the rookie guard returns to the bench once Vassell is activated. Vassell’s return could create a domino effect on the Spurs' second unit, with either Malaki Branham or Blake Wesley potentially losing minutes. Both third-year guards played a heavy role in the victory over Portland, with Branham going for a season-high 17 points and Wesley setting season bests in points and assists . In all, the Spurs clobbered Portland 61-31 off the bench, with reserves Branham, Wesley, Keldon Johnson and Zach Collins all chipping in double-digit nights. The oft-maligned trio of Branham, Wesley and Collins combined to go 16 of 19. “We're a deep team,” Mitch Johnson said. “I think even when guys have been frustrated, they've understood we're a good team with a lot of good players, young players at that. We're going to need everybody.” Branham left Thursday’s game early after tweaking an ankle in the third quarter, though he was moving normally in the locker room afterward. “It’s going to be alright,” Branham said. “Not the worst one I’ve had.” In a somewhat snakebitten season such as this one, that constitutes as positive a medical update as any. Now the Spurs sense a golden opportunity to gain traction in their season. Vassell is on the way back. Thursday’s game against Portland began a stretch in which eight of nine are at home. The Spurs’ next game is against a 1-7 Jazz team they smashed 106-88 in Salt Lake City on Halloween night. “The way I see it,” Champagnie said, “the only way to go is up.” As the Spurs learned Thursday, that is the only way there is to climb a mountain.
Trail Blazers Everest Branham Hall Of Famer Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Lakers Portland Devin Vassell Keldon Johnson Edmund Hilary Malaki Branham Jeremy Sochan Julian Champagnie Mitch Johnson Gregg Popovich Donovan Clingan Blake Wesley Victor Wembanyama Stephon Castle Zach Collins Portland Mt Frost Bank Center Alamo City Houston Utah Salt Lake City Zero
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