The San Antonio Spurs have hit a groove, and Monday night offers another chance to keep it rolling.
After a 121-111 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Halloween, the Spurs return to Frost Bank Center riding a four-game winning streak and looking for No. 5 against the Utah Jazz. San Antonio already handled Utah once this season, pulling out a 117-111 overtime win in Salt Lake City, and now gets the rematch at home.
Victor Wembanyama was the headline in the Minnesota victory, and for good reason. He finished with 43 points and six blocks, controlling both ends and making the paint a tough place to operate. Even with that kind of production, he suggested there may still be more coming.
"Hopefully, yeah," Wembanyama said when asked if some of the moves he's been working on behind closed doors would make their way into games. "It's always a challenge to balance individual development and team goals because… we're not out there to work on our game. We're here to win games."
That balance has been a big part of San Antonio’s early-season surge. The Spurs have been getting contributions all over the floor, not just from their franchise centerpiece.
De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Devin Vassell and Wembanyama are projected to start again, and that group has been building chemistry as the season opens. Fox posted 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists against Minnesota, while Harper turned in 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Their play has given San Antonio more ways to create offense and eased the pressure on Wembanyama to carry everything himself.
Harper said the team understands how important it is to put Wembanyama in the right spots.
"I think we do a great job at getting him to his spots," Harper said. "At the end of the day, he knows we have belief in him. When (he) gets to (his) spots, he's pretty much unguardable."
Vassell kept doing the little things that matter, even if they don’t always jump off the stat sheet. Julian Champagnie added 12 points, Luke Kornet pulled down eight rebounds and Carter Bryant gave the Spurs solid minutes off the bench.
Castle’s night was quieter on the box score - he finished scoreless while dealing with a migraine - but his decision to stay on the floor drew praise from Mitch Johnson.
"A lot of people wouldn't have went into work if they were feeling like Steph Castle," Johnson said. "Sometimes, in this sport, it doesn't get enough attention."
Johnson also had plenty of respect for what Utah brings into the matchup, even with the Jazz sitting at 1-5.
"It is hard to win in this league," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of the Jazz in Salt Lake City. "That's a very good young team. A very well-coached team that is competing their butts off."
The Jazz will be without Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkić, but they do get Lauri Markkanen back after he missed the first meeting between the teams. That gives Utah another scoring threat San Antonio has to track.
For the Spurs, the biggest issue to clean up is the ball. Even in the win over Minnesota, they gave up 29 points off turnovers, and that kind of sloppiness is the sort of thing that can undo a good night fast. Against a Utah team that pushed them close the first time around, those mistakes matter.
There’s also still the broader matter of chemistry and growth. Wembanyama’s comments about balancing personal development with winning fit the way the Spurs have approached this stretch, with the team-first mindset showing up throughout the four-game run. Harris is still waiting to make his regular-season debut, but San Antonio has found enough production elsewhere to keep moving.
Four wins in a row have already changed the feel around this team. A fifth would push it even further.
In Other News...
Wembanyama Opens Up About The Scare That Changed Everything
Victor Wembanyamas early-2025 blood clot scare did more than end his 2024-25 season with the Spurs ahead of schedule. It also forced a reset in how he sees himself, both as a player and as a person, and he has been open about the way the health issue changed his outlook on life and basketball.
For San Antonio, the most striking part is how that experience appears to have carried over into his day-to-day presence with the team. Wembanyama says he has become more expressive and emotionally engaged, and he has linked the ordeal to both personal growth and better play, a reminder that the biggest developments around a young star are not always measured in points or blocks. [Read more 🡒]
Wembanyama Brought A Wild Halloween Look To Wolves Night
Victor Wembanyama turned the pregame scene into part costume party, part pop-culture nod before the Spurs took on the Timberwolves, showing up dressed as Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher. It fit neatly with his well-known interest in fantasy literature, and it also continued a Halloween tradition that has become a little annual subplot around the Spurs, with other players joining in on the fun.
For San Antonio, the timing added a bit of extra color to a night that came with some momentum after a recent winning streak. Wembanyamas third Halloween-themed NBA arrival was less about the game itself than the personality around it, the kind of detail that makes a young star feel larger than the box score before the opening tip. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Have A Delicate Balance As Wembanyama And Fox Roll
While Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox have helped keep San Antonio moving in the right direction, the Spurs are still managing the health side of the ledger carefully. Head coach Mitch Johnson said the team is taking a methodical, patient approach with Harris as he works back from a calf strain, a reminder that the early part of the season is about more than just the standings for a team trying to build something sustainable.
Wembanyama is still producing at a career-best scoring pace even while dealing with shooting struggles, and Fox continues to look like a steadying force at point guard after turning in a strong all-around line with 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Stephon Castle also showed his toughness by playing through a migraine in a recent game, which speaks to the competitive edge inside the locker room, but the Spurs know the bigger picture depends on keeping the rotation intact and getting everyone back to full strength at the right time. [Read more 🡒]