San Antonio vs. New York, Final Score: Spurs bench shines in 120105 win over the Knicks
Mar 19, 2025
Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Sandro Mamukelashvili goes off as the Spurs beat one of the best teams in the East. March is a time for unlikely basketball heroes. Usually, they are collegiate players at smaller schools who become household names in the NCAA Tournament. On Wednesd
ay night in San Antonio, just weeks before the Final Four comes to town, Sandro Mamukelashvili the underdog Spurs. The big man had a career-high 34 points in the San Antonio Spurs 120-105 win over the New York Knicks.
Mamu led the Spurs’ bench unit which outscored the Knicks substitutes 55-32. He was super efficient, shooting 13-14 from the field and a perfect 7-7 from the field. He added 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal in just 19 minutes of play. The performance earned him a hug and shoutout from Flava Flav in the post-game interview.
San Antonio’s win improves their record to 28-39. They are now 3.5 games out of the 10 seed and the NBA Play-In tournament. If performances like this become the norm, they may just find themselves competing for a playoff spot after all. The Spurs will host the beat-up Philadelphia 76ers in their next game on Friday.
Observations
Despite being greatly undersized, the Spurs owned the paint. They outscored the Knicks inside 52-50 and beat them on the glass 52-44. Karl Anthony-Towns was the only Knick who could consistently score in the paint, as he finished with 32 points and 9 rebounds.
Stephon Castle continued his chase for Rookie of the Year with another solid performance. He had 22 points on 8-16 shooting from the field and 2-4 from three. He was excellent at getting to the basket, and his defense was solid against a Knicks team that’s top-10 in the NBA in offense.
Mamukelashvili wasn’t the only Spur who was on fire. San Antonio shot 50% from the field and 45.7% from three, while the Knicks went cold, shooting 42.4% from the field and 29.7% from three.
Blake Wesley was great off the bench, particularly defensively. He was so disruptive at the point of attack, grabbing 3 steals in the win. Wesley added 6 points and 3 assists in the win.
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