San Antonio Spurs have remarkable one-year turnaround to reach the NBA Finals

 

                                              (Credit: Nate Billings/AP) 

Just one year after going 34-48, the San Antonio Spurs are going to the NBA Finals, defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals 111-103 on the road in OKC. The Spurs finished the regular season with a record of 62-20, which was the second best record in the league behind the Thunder, who went 64-18. Not many teams have reached the NBA Finals after missing the playoffs the season prior. That puts the Spurs in a pretty elite group of teams in league history. 

What's been key to the Spurs' turnaround has been the combination of great coaching from head coach Mitch Johnson, all-around team play (a hallmark of Spurs basketball during the Gregg Popovich years), and having a fantastic one-two punch in Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox. Before the season, I wrote a blog post on here saying I felt like Wembanyama/Fox could form a championship caliber duo. But even I didn't think they'd rise to championship level this fast. 

“You know, as a I said earlier, experience a lot of times is used in the form of a best used or the lack thereof when you need it the most,” Johnson said of what his team accomplished being so young. “And people don’t talk about as much the habits, the character, the togetherness, the competitive response. The things we talk about in these media sessions every single day. And this team has now been pretty damn consistent for a long time. For over a hundred games for the most part. And so, I’ll take those things with the experience that we’ve gone through when you want to look back in terms how we started the year, how we go to the cup on the road vs. Denver and LA. What we did in the cup. Playing these guys around Christmastime a few times. Expectations. We’ve played in three playoff series without Victor, without Fox multiple games, I don’t know who has as much experience as we do this year in the season of 2025-2026.”  

“It feels great,” Fox said of reaching his first career NBA Finals. “Especially doing it with this group of guys with just how young and how talented they are. To be able to be this resilient. Especially against you know, some teams that have been here. You know, playing Minnesota, they’ve been in the conference finals the last two years and then obviously OKC been to the conference finals the last two years, been a number one seed the last three years. Just won a championship. Being able to do it against those types of teams I think prepare you for whatever you’re going to see at the end and it’s definitely great…And then coming here my first full year, being able to be in the finals, I don’t know if I thought that, but I knew that we were gonna have a damn good team and we continued to get better just throughout the course of the season.

“While we were winning games, we were getting better every step of the way and by the time we got to, I would even say like all-star break, I was like, it could be real. Like, we can, we definitely have a chance this year and this is just another stepping stone to that goal.”

That being said, what made me confident in their potential is the fact that Wembanyama is such a unique talent at 7'4", 235 pounds. Averaging 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks per game, he can score from anywhere on the floor. Fox in turn is a dynamic point guard, averaging 18.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. Point guard/big man duos like that typically do really well in the NBA. 

“Yeah, he has such a vision in my opinion of who he wants to be as a person and as a player,” Johnson said of Wembanyama. “And the commitment and investment that he puts into that vision is nothing like I’ve ever seen before. And I think we’ve seen a few moments where his emotions probably in my opinion, again, meet all the things that he’s putting into for these achievements and accomplishments and milestones and goals of his. In terms of championing his cause and his journey, I thought in the first half, he floated a little too much at times.

“And we needed him to be demonstrative, we needed him to play with strength. We needed him to bring his will more than his talent and it’s hard for these young guys who have never been in this spot. So there is the experience thing and I understand that they’re learning on the fly what it takes, but I think the second half we doubled down and invested on leaning into willing our plays to execution and to completion and not our talent. And when we did that appropriately we still had enough talent when needed to make the appropriate plays.”

On top of having a fantastic one-two punch, this is the Spurs we are talking about. Johnson learned from the best in the business in Popovich, quickly ascending the coaching ranks after his playing days at Stanford. At just 39 years of age, Johnson greatly benefited from being an assistant under Popovich starting in 2019 before eventually taking over the head coaching job in May 2025. When you combine great talent with elite level coaching, that's a recipe for success. 

Looking ahead to the NBA Finals, it'll be interesting to see if the Spurs can cap off this amazing run with a championship. The New York Knicks, whose last appearance in the NBA Finals was in 1999 against the Spurs, will look to avenge that 4-1 defeat 27 years later. The Spurs have to hope that if history doesn't repeat itself, it will at least rhyme with another championship for their franchise. 

“Winning the Larry O’Brien, it’s a childhood dream,” Wembanyama said. “And having a real shot at it. Having a chance. A tangible chance at winning it, realizing a dream, it’s a chance. It’s a lifetime chance. You know, it’s, you never know when it’s going to happen again. But it’s, the day we win it, speaking for myself it’s going to be an amazing day of like, realization of a dream. You know, it’s hard to put into words. It’s almost like the meaning of my life, you know?" 

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Damon Stoudamire reflects on the Toronto Raptors' upset of the '96 Chicago Bulls

 

                                             (Credit: Getty Images) 

On March 24th, 1996, the expansion Toronto Raptors had a March Madness moment of their own when they upset the Chicago Bulls at home by a final score of 109-108. The Raptors improved to 18-49 on the season while the Bulls fell to 60-8. The Bulls would go on to win the NBA championship that season over the Seattle SuperSonics with a regular season record of 72-10.  

Damon Stoudamire led the Raptors with 30 points, four rebounds, and 11 assists while Michael Jordan was the top performer for the Bulls with 36 points and nine rebounds. It was truly a March Madness level upset with the Raptors trailing 83-79 entering the 4th quarter before they outscored the Bulls 30-25 to win by one point. 

With under 1:30 to go, the Bulls led 106-103 as Jordan continued to catch fire, hitting a huge turnaround jumper. The Raptors had the ball, hoping to answer. Stoudamire would knife his way to the basket and draw a foul. Stoudamire would go 1-2 at the foul line, but thanks to an offensive rebound by Doug Christie, the Raptors kept possession as Christie was fouled, sending him to the foul line. Christie would miss both foul shots, but the Raptors scooped up another offensive rebound as Stoudamire hustled to get the ball. 

Stoudamire would get rejected inside by Jordan, but the Raptors were able to keep possession leading to a reset at the top of the key. This time the Raptors would score as Stoudamire penetrated and dished off to Oliver Miller for the slam, tying the game up at 106-106 with under 50 seconds to go. Jordan hit a huge jumper on the next possession to make it a 108-106 lead for the Bulls with 31.8 to go. The Raptors needed to answer once more. 

Out of a time out, the Raptors quickly scored as Miller found Tracy Murray for an easy basket inside, tying it up 108-108 with 30.1 to go. The Bulls would not score on the next possession as Murray was able to block Jordan, leading to a rebound by Miller. Miller appeared to call for time with 21.3 to go, but it turned out Jordan fouled Miller, sending Miller to the foul line. Miller would go 1-2 at the foul line, making the first and missing the second free throw. That made it a 109-108 lead for the Raptors as the Bulls got the ball back thanks to a quick rebound by Scottie Pippen. 

Coming out of a timeout, after Dancing in the Street by David Bowie and Mick Jagger finished playing, the Bulls were unable to score as Steve Kerr fired up a 3-pointer that did not fall. Jordan would get the rebound and bank in a shot from the corner, but time had expired. 109-108 the Raptors survived. 

As you can imagine, the SkyDome went nuts. It truly felt like everyone in Toronto was dancing in the streets after the Raptors knocked off Air Jordan and the Bulls. During one of the ACC men's basketball media availability days, I asked Stoudamire, who was the head coach of Georgia Tech at the time, what he most remembers about that day. 

"It's just, you know, it was a great memory," Stoudamire said. "You know, it was one of the standout things of my rookie season to beat the 72-win Bulls. I think that was one of the things that ignited my career and one of the highlights of playing in Toronto, but it was a great moment. More, you know, do I look back on it now?  You know, it was just more so for the fans. I mean, we were, you know, we only won 21 games that year, but you would have you thought we won the world championship on that afternoon. And for those fans, that was like the biggest moment for them at that time. So it felt really good." 

It's a universal truth across all sports that an underdog victory is often the sweetest of all victories and for the Raptors it certainly was just that. What makes it all the more sweet and memorable now is knowing what the Bulls would go on to accomplish. That 1996 Bulls team is widely regarded as the greatest team of all-time. To be one of the few teams that beat that team and to do it as an expansion team in front of your home fans? Man, not a lot of things outside of literally winning a championship can top that. 

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Chicago Bulls point guard Yuki Kawamura is fun to watch

 

                                             (Credit: Jim Rassol/Imagn Images) 

This past weekend, Japanese point guard Yuki Kawamura (河村勇輝 Kawamura Yūki) got called up from the Windy City Bulls of the G-League to play with the Chicago Bulls and so far, he is making an impact, averaging 5.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.3 steals in 21.3 minutes per game. Kawamura is currently on a two-way contract, signing his current deal a little under one month ago. He was previously on a two-way deal with the Bulls over the summer, but was waived before the start of the season. Kawamura clearly hasn't given up and is finally being rewarded for his efforts. 

Listed at 5'7", watching Kawamura gives me flashbacks to watching Muggsy Bogues. A little guy out there among giants who is quicker and more tenacious than anyone else on the floor. Kawamura looks to facilitate first, but isn't afraid to take a shot when he has a look. He understands what role he needs to play in order to stay on the floor and he does it well. Being totally honest, when you watch him play, it's a little puzzling he is just now seeing the floor for the Bulls this season. But I guess that just goes to show how competitive the NBA is and how hard it is to see the floor when you are so undersized. 

Going forward, it'll be fun to see how long Kawamura can stay up with the Chicago Bulls. Given we are more than halfway throng the season, the Bulls can play him pretty much whenever they want without having to convert his contract to a standard deal (two-way guys can play 50 games without having to have their contract converted). I'm sure that's part of why they've waited until this last weekend to call him up. If he keeps this up, I don't see why he won't be able to stay on the floor going forward. He's clearly making his presence felt and on top of that, he's entertaining. He's a guy that's gonna put butts in the seats and given that NBA basketball is about entertainment, that's certainly a plus for him. 

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Can the Denver Nuggets weather the storm until Nikola Jokic returns?

 

                                             Credit: Sam Navarro/Imagn Images

The Denver Nuggets will begin the New Year without their star big man Nikola Jokic, who hyperextended his left knee earlier in the week in a road game against the Miami Heat. Jokic's estimated date of return is February 1st, which means he is expected to miss all of January. The loss of Jokic for a full month is a real blow to the Nuggets as Jokic is averaging 29.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, 11 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. Leading the league in rebounds and assists. He's having an MVP level season. 

The Nuggets at the moment are 23-10, which puts them at 3rd place in the Western Conference behind the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder. Realistically, they could drop to the 7th spot in the Western Conference with Jokic being out given that the 7th place Phoenix Suns are just 4.0 games back of them at 19-14. Getting a top six seed is crucial in the playoffs given that seeds 7-10 go to the play-in tournament, which is basically the NBA's version of the wild card round. The Nuggets do not want to drop that low with Jokic out and they definitely want to maintain a top four seed (the 4th seeded Houston Rockets are just 1.5 games back at 20-10). 

As for what "weathering the storm" would look like, I think the Nuggets need to maintain a top six seed in the West until Jokic returns. They just need to makes sure that they don't slip into that play-in tournament territory. As long as they can do that, they should like their chances of rising in the standings once he returns and possibly regaining a top three or at least top four seed in the West. They should be feeling grateful that Jokic's season isn't over and that he's projected to return with plenty of season left. 

For the month of January, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon are going to have to be the ones leading the way. Murray is averaging 25.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.0 steals per game while Gordon is averaging 18.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. The two of them are going to have pick up the slack in terms of scoring, rebounding, and facilitating. 

And then hey, it's really gonna be on the entire team to step up. A guy I covered at Stanford, Spencer Jones, is averaging 6.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game on 53.8% shooting from the field, 40.9% shooting from 3-point range, and 63.6% shooting from the foul line. He's been doing his part by making threes and playing good defense. With Jokic out, it's going to be even more important that guys like him do their jobs well. 

As legendary Denver sportswriter Woody Paige would advise us to do, let's quickly look at the schedule that the Nuggets have for January: at Cleveland Cavaliers (19-16), at Brooklyn Nets (10-20), at Philadelphia 76ers (17-14), at Boston Celtics (20-12), vs. Atlanta Hawks (16-19), vs. Milwaukee Bucks (14-20), at New Orleans Pelicans (8-27), at Dallas Mavericks (12-22), vs. Washington Wizards (8-24), vs. Charlotte Hornets (11-22), vs. Los Angeles Lakers (20-11), at Washington Wizards (8-24), at Milwaukee Bucks, at Memphis Grizzlies (15-18), vs. Detroit Pistons (25-8), vs. Brooklyn Nets, and vs. Los Angeles Clippers (11-21). 

Of those 17 games, 11 are against teams with losing records. That helps a lot. Getting the Nets and Bucks twice while also getting the Pelicans and Clippers is nice. In many ways, the biggest challenge is this upcoming four game Eastern Conference trip to face the Cavaliers, Nets, 76ers, and Celtics. If they can get a split on this trip, they should be feeling good when they come back home to face the Hawks and Bucks. 

Overall, I think the Nuggets will be fine provided Jokic does indeed return come February. The schedule is pretty light and I have confidence in Murray and Gordon as well as the rest of the team to do their job. Plus, being in 3rd place, the Nuggets have built a bit of a buffer to handle a stretch like this. They should certainly hope to get Jokic back as soon as possible, but having to play without him for a month isn't something they should be freaking out about, either. 

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