Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images San Antonio’s gritty performance shows they are ready to win. “Life’s not knights on horseback... It’s a fight for a knife in the mud.” That’s a quote from fictional media mogul Logan Roy from the HBO series Succession. It also applies to the basketball world. Sometimes you have to win ugly. On Friday night, the San Antonio Spurs found themselves in a mud-fight. Most young teams would have folded, but the Spurs fought through adversity to secure a 118-116 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. San Antonio had to overcome a bundle of obstacles to win that game. They came into the game already missing four key rotation players, including a starter in Stephon Castle. The game was physical throughout, with both teams picking up their fair share of fouls. The Spurs’ starting point guard and veteran leader was tossed out of the game in the first quarter as Chris Paul picked up two quick technicals for jawing with officials. All that led to the Spurs finding themselves down 17 points with 8 minutes to go in the game. The team’s performance in the third and fourth quarters gave ammunition to the voices claiming that bad years have created a young team with losing habits. At that moment, something clicked with this squad, and they turned it up when they needed to. Jeremy Sochan started to enforce his will on the game with hustle plays on defense and the offensive glass. Devin Vassell hit big shots and created offense for others. Julian Champagnie knocked down clutch threes. And when the Spurs needed a superstar to get them over the finish line, Victor Wembanyama delivered – drawing fouls and knocking down free throws to win the game for San Antonio. That’s the kind of gutsy performance you often see from winning teams. In years past, this team would not have gotten back in the game, and even if they did, they wouldn’t execute enough to win it. There have been 25 games of evidence that point to this team’s improvement, but none are such a strong indication of a shift in mentality and maturity than this one. Winning the easy games is one thing, but fighting and clawing in the tough ones are a sign that the losing days should be behind them. Takeaways Wembanyama was the Spurs’ ace in the hole against a similarly depleted Blazers squad. Portland’s strategy was to be as physical as possible on San Antonio and make it difficult to get their superstar the ball, and once he caught it, they wanted him to give it away. At times, especially in the third quarter, that strategy was successful. But Wemby is such a willing and skilled passer that it actually burned the Blazers several times, and he found open teammates for big shots. Wembanyama finished with 28 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks. Vassell is back. He finally played a full minute load (31) after being on a restriction. That could be due to the Spurs already being shorthanded, but it seemed like, physically, he could take it. His shot creation complements Wembanyama so well, as he was often the release valve for Wemby when Portland’s doubles came. He had 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in the victory. After the game, Mitch Johnson told the press that he thought Sochan swung the game in the fourth quarter by enforcing his will defensively. Sochan was one of the few Spurs who really matched the Blazers’ physicality, living up to his “enforcer” role. It feels like Sochan has grown into his own in his third NBA season, establishing himself as a good cutter, defender, and hustle player. He had 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals on Friday. We finally got to see more of Wembanyama, Sochan, and Vassell playing together. That trio has played just 27 minutes together this season as a result of injuries and lineup changes. Not only has the Spurs’ young core proven they can play at a high level, but Friday night, they looked like they fit well alongside each other. It would be great to see more of those three playing together alongside guys like Castle and Champagnie.