With five wins in their last seven games, including three in a row, the Spurs surge even without Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox.
DETROIT – When the Spurs lost All-Star center Victor Wembanyama for the season to a blood clot a month ago, acting head coach Mitch Johnson made sure the rest of the team understood it would continue to be held to a high standard.
The loss of former All-Star guard De'Aaron Fox for the season to finger surgery a week ago didn't change things. With wins in five of their last seven games, including the last three in a row, it's clear the Spurs aren't feeling sorry for themselves and want to close out the season on a high note. 'We're just trying to continue to grow our identity and play the style of play we've talked about and say we're committing to,' Johnson said. 'It's been important to be able to do that no matter who we're playing or who's available for us or what part of the season it's been. That's something we've tried to anchor to regardless of the circumstances.' SPURS AT PISTONS: How to watch the game, notable stats, player news The players are clearly on board with the approach. 'The standards are the same,' Spurs forward Devin Vassell said. 'We got to keep being competitive. We're playing every game to win, and that's always been our M.O.' The Spurs arrived in Detroit on Monday fresh off a 123-89 rout of undermanned Toronto powered by Vassell's 25 points on an efficient 11 of 14 in just three quarters of work. If the Spurs beat the Pistons, who are 40-32 and defeated the Spurs 125-110 Feb. 21 in Austin, on Tuesday night they will match their season-best winning streak of four games that came in November when they were still coming to grips with the loss of coach Gregg Popovich to a mild stroke just five games into the season. That the Spurs continue to play to win after losing Popovich, who is expected to make a full recovery and could return next season; Wembanyama; and Fox, who they acquired Feb. 3 from Sacramento in a blockbuster three-team trade, has Johnson beaming. The Spurs are 8-10 since losing Wembanyama and 4-2 without Fox. READ MORE: Spurs win third straight as Vassell scores 25, sparks laughs with face steal 'This league doesn't care who's in the lineup or who's available or what the record is,' Johnson said. 'And we have some guys that are impacting winning, or learning what it takes to impact winning. And, again, that will be valuable from now until forever. So, as long as we can bottle that up, grow in that regard and be more consistent with it, good things will come.' Forward Julian Champagnie, who hit 4 of 6 from 3-point range on his way to 20 points off the bench against the Raptors, shrugged at the notion the Spurs are doing anything out of the ordinary after losing Wembanyama and Fox. 'Honestly and truly, that's a part of this profession,' Champagnie said of fighting through adversity. 'It's just being professional and being ready for when your name is called.' Johnson stressed it's important for the Spurs to adhere to Popovich's belief that everything a player or a team does in the present moment should be done with the thought t will help them in the future. 'I know specifically with our team, Pop and the staff used to talk a lot about what we were doing now is going to produce wins,' Johnson said. 'It may not produce a win tomorrow, it may not produce a win next month, but it's going to produce wins at some point, and you have to trust in that. As long as that's your north star and guiding light, it usually can take care of itself.' In Toronto, the Spurs jumped out to a 36-16 lead in the first quarter after converting 10 turnovers into 18 points. The Spurs forced eight of those turnovers, with Chris Paul, Blake Wesley and Champagnie each recording two steals. The Spurs also had five blocks in the first period, marking the first time the club had eight steals and five blocks in a quarter since Feb. 25, 2003 in the third period against Miami. Johnson said that fierce 'defensive activity' in the first period, which ended with the Spurs on a 30-9 run, set the tone. 'It was the most connected we've been, the most communication we've heard from the bench,' Johnson said. 'Just guys navigating actions, screens, things that were happening on the court. It has to take those five guys on the court to figure things out, and I thought tonight they were absolutely tremendous.' The Spurs led 62-40 at halftime after leading by as many as 27 in the second quarter. They finished with 30 points off of 22 turnovers by Toronto, which lost its fourth in a row to drop to 24-47 and were without Brandon Ingram and Gradey Dick because of injuries and Jakob Poeltl and Immanuel Quickly due to rest. A common thread throughout the winning streak for the Spurs has been their defensive effort, which has helped them hold their opponents to an average of just 104.6 points per game. 'I think it's just been the defense, just going out there and playing hard, being active, deflection, steals, whatever it may be,' Champagnie said when asked what the common thread was in the three wins. Asked the same question, Johnson pointed to the team's consistency throughout the games. 'It is probably three of our best games of playing as consistent as we can for more of the 48 minutes than the other team,' Johnson said. 'The guys get the credit for that. It's tough. NBA games are long and to be able to string together consistency for 48 minutes is the standard we're in pursuit of. They've done a really good job recently of executing that.'
Fox Raptors Pop Pistons Immanuel Quickly NBA Miami Mitch Johnson Gregg Popovich Julian Champagnie Devin Vassell All-Star Gradey Dick Jakob Poeltl Brandon Ingram Chris Paul Blake Wesley Toronto DETROIT Sacramento Austin Victor Wembanyama De'aaron Fox M.O.
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