{"id":1954117,"date":"2026-05-25T11:00:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T08:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1954117"},"modified":"2026-05-25T11:00:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T08:00:27","slug":"the-spurs-find-out-who-they-are-with-help-from-courtside-nuns-and-coach-pop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1954117","title":{"rendered":"The Spurs find out who they are, with help from courtside nuns and Coach Pop"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN ANTONIO \u2014 The San Antonio Spurs knew how badly they blew it. The metal door to their locker room deep under the stands wasn\u2019t strong enough to hold out the reality of their situation. The stench of their performance seeped through the slim opening underneath, wafting around the locker room. There was no respite from the disappointment.<\/p>\n

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They had just opened Game 3 of the Western Conference finals with a 15-0 run, nearly an NBA record. They talked so much about combating the Oklahoma City Thunder\u2019s relentless physicality by being the ones to hit first. They struck right away, then played the rest of the night on their back foot as they lost convincingly.<\/p>\n

De\u2019Aaron Fox felt Friday\u2019s Game 3 was one of the worst games they had all season from a mentality standpoint after that opening run. For him, the way they lost the game hurt more than actually losing the game.<\/p>\n

So when that metal door opened again, it wasn\u2019t a surprise when he saw who was walking through that door. It was time for El Jefe to send a message.<\/p>\n

\u201cPop came in after the game; it was actually the first time that he came into the locker room and spoke after a game,\u201d Fox said. \u201cSo he saw it. We all saw it. We all felt it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carter Bryant recently told The Athletic<\/em> that former Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, now the president of basketball operations and unofficially labeled El Jefe, often calls Bryant so fast after games that Bryant is still in the locker room getting changed.<\/p>\n

Apparently, Popovich decided it was time to do things in person. Fox said Popovich\u2019s message to the team was that its performance was \u201cBS.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot leave the floor saying I wish, could have, should have, at this point of the season,\u201d Spurs center Bismack Biyombo told The Athletic<\/em> of Popovich\u2019s speech. \u201cI think that\u2019s my takeaway from that message, because everybody\u2019s banged up at this point of the season. Everybody\u2019s dealing with something. If it\u2019s not physical, it\u2019s mental.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Simply put, be better.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing more, nothing less,\u201d Bryant told\u00a0The Athletic<\/em> after the Spurs beat the Thunder on Sunday 103-82<\/a> to tie the series at 2-2. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s a direct message, and the best thing when you\u2019re in a situation like this is a direct message. So to us, we had to be better, we came out executing and we saw the outcome (in Game 4).\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Spurs\u2019 comeback in this series did not just stem from better execution or a show of will. It was a touch of divine inspiration. They were busy on Sunday morning, so Mass came to them.<\/p>\n

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Seated courtside during warmups were the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, a group of Catholic nuns in San Antonio who have gone viral for cheering and praying for the Spurs throughout their playoff run from afar. It was time for them to bless the Spurs in person.<\/p>\n

After his pregame warmup, Spurs center Luke Kornet, a devout Catholic who has his own blog that originally reviewed churches on the NBA circuit, received a blessing. He ended up finally having a solid game after struggling in this series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to fly them to OKC,\u201d Kornet said. \u201cWe have to get them on the plane.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Who<\/p>\n
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\n Who are the \u2018Spurs nuns\u2019? The Salesian Sisters who blessed Luke Kornet before a big Game 4 win\n <\/div>\n
\n Some fans credit them for the Spurs’ draft luck, as the nuns root for and pray for the Spurs.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s tough to find extra room on the plane when you have the guy who takes up more leg room than anyone. Especially after this game. Victor Wembanyama really<\/em> stretched his legs in this one.<\/p>\n

With 22 points on 15 shots and six free throws in the first half, a relentless scorer lived up to the challenge that the MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, laid down in Game 3.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s Victor Wembanyama, the relentless scorer. Sounds weird, right? That sure doesn\u2019t sound like Wemby. He\u2019s the black hole that sucks everything up into his gravity. It usually all comes to him, and his job is more to fight to be in the space where gravity does its thing.<\/p>\n

After Popovich reamed out the Spurs following Game 3, Wembanyama stepped to the podium and said they were about to find out what they were made of. They found out. This is what they have shown all year. They just needed another monstrous test to find their way back to themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really wonder now because we didn\u2019t do nothing unexpected, but the truth is that we had never been in this kind of situation before,\u201d Wembanyama said after finishing with 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocks in Game 4. \u201cIt was our first deficit in a playoff series, and we just responded.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Wembanyama scored 33 points for the Spurs in Sunday\u2019s win (Scott Wachter \/ Imagn Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When Popovich spoke to the Spurs, according to Biyombo, he made it clear that there is no game plan coach Mitch Johnson could give them at this point that was truly going to change things. They already know it all. It\u2019s his job to get them ready and to select the right coverage from the menu at the right time, but there\u2019s nothing novel at this point.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really just up to you to make it happen.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNow you just got to sit in front of the mirror and say, look, I got everything and I know what to do now. I just got to get out there and do it,\u201d Biyombo said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s kind of the point and my takeaway from what Pop said.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson said from his perspective, Wembanyama felt an obligation to set the tone in a variety of ways, and his aggression was a reflection of that. \u201cI think a lot of people say (he wants that obligation) and regardless of that, I think that\u2019s what he wants,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI think he wants that responsibility to be in the lead there, and he\u2019s built for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Popovich, Tim Duncan and the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco watched over him, he delivered. He showed who he and the Spurs truly are. Or at least who they are learning to be, in the hardest classroom the game has to offer.<\/p>\n

After Game 3, Harrison Barnes told The Athletic<\/em> that the Spurs needed to not rely on the magic of Wemby and find their way to dozens of good plays consistently over the course of the evening. That is the real mentality challenge in the playoffs. Not to get psyched up for one big play to try to swing the momentum. But by methodically inching the momentum in your direction throughout the evening. Staying locked in means never unlocking.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s what the Spurs did in that first half, as Wembanyama never stopped imposing his will. Then he threw up a Hail Mary from half court at the halftime buzzer, and the sisters\u2019 prayers were answered. It was divine. It was magical. It was Wemby.<\/p>\n

But the game wasn\u2019t won on that exospheric jumper. It was the dozen stops he got on the other end that made sure the Thunder never found their offense again. A good win doesn\u2019t have to be a spectacle. It just has to get the job done.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nothing amazing. It wasn\u2019t magic. We just did what we needed to do,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cThe series is far from over. We got six more wins before we can rest.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2014 The San Antonio Spurs knew how badly they blew it. The metal door to their locker room deep under the stands wasn\u2019t strong enough to hold out the reality of their situation. The stench of their performance seeped through the slim opening underneath, wafting around the locker room. There was no respite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1954117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1954117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1954117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1954117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1954117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1954117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}