Sometime it’s obvious that athletes are just like regular people. For much of Wednesday night, the San Antonio Spurs played like they wanted to clock out early on New Year’s Eve. You could say that the team didn’t get serious until the third quarter, yet finished 2025 by ending a two- game skid in which they played down to the level of competition, while also avenging their loss to the New York Knicks in the Emirates Cup Final. No team plays a perfect game defensively, but mamma mia, what was that first half? They were exposed in transition, surrendering a season-worst 20 points, and seemed to be on a strike against guarding the 3-point line. Victor Wembanyama lunging at Karl-Anthony Towns to start the third felt like a bad omen, but the Spurs are a high-character team, able to eat a ton of shots and recover with a flurry. But the smart teams in this league will key in on these mistakes and exploit them. One imagines coach Mitch Johnson shuddering at a review in the film room. Still, whatever mojo Johnson has been employing at halftime is working and perhaps seeing some emotion from time to time on the sideline inspires the troops. Luke Kornet is also a big-time sub way beyond the numbers regardless of how much he resembles a math professor. He had two momentous offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, and he anchored the defense in crunch time while Wemby was on the bench after a scary knee hyperextension. Observations Only the standout teams can mentally flip a switch during a game and win against quality competition after getting lit up defensively. It’s not ideal to just go through the motions, but it just speaks to how talented a team can be to come out on top while making eight fewer triples than their guests. The Spurs eventually played like the more desperate unit in the trenches, doubling New York’s screen assists and forcing more turnovers. Depth continues to be one of the Spurs’ strengths as some of the background players —Kornet, Julian Champagnie, and Keldon Johnson— stepped up when Wembanyama limp/hopped into the trainer’s room. Stephon Castle had an off night, too. Kornet not being on the team last year makes it hard to judge, but these moments either show growth or merely highlight how good Luke is: in prior seasons, the team was nearly always struggled in non-Wemby minutes, and now they’re showing that they can hang with anyone.  The area of improvement for Wembanyama that should most impress Spurs fans is the increase in his free throw rate. He’s averaging 6.9 freebies per game, and Wednesday was the eighth time this season he had at least 10 attempts. Getting smarter with his shot selection has yielded more opportunities, and the ultimate value of drawing more fouls is that opponents either loosen up their pressure or get benched for inferior players. Whenever I question Champagnie’s place in the rotation, he comes alive. Consider that he made 11 treys in his previous nine games and had 11 against New York, setting a franchise record. Regardless of what eventually happens to his minutes, he’s showing he’s capable of delivering when called upon.  The Spurs have racked up a nice chunk of quality wins, including six in December, and these are the nights we learn the most about them. Double-digit wins against the Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards mean nada, but that equation changes drastically against New York, even without two of Knicks’s pivotal role players. Nobody should get too high off one victory, but it was their biggest comeback effort of the season, recovering from being down 19 points. (The previous best was coming back from an 18-point hole against the Nuggets in Denver in Emirates Cup play.) Maybe the Spurs should fine players $1,000 each time they bite on an up-fake because it’s becoming an epidemic. They give up too many line drives or deep jumpers after making this mistake since the defense gets put in a scramble. It makes it worse that barely any shots across the league are blocked on the perimeter, so there’s little need to try it. The defense has been sharp this year, but it can avoid five to 10 extra points per game, at least, if players stay down and be content with merely contesting the shot.  Johnson didn’t have an update on Wemby’s condition at the presser, but felt encouraged that he came back to watch the end of the game on the bench. Wembanyama said he was feeling sore but “very confident,” and joked that he had to be held back from returning to the game.   Players like De’Aaron Fox and Jalen Brunson attract tons of eyeballs because they have elite wiggle on the move. Despite being the smallest guys on the floor, they played like giants and were both their team’s leading scorers in the lane. Both are notably quick, but the former deals more in finesse and the latter in power. These matchups of conflicting styles are appointment viewing. ...read more read less