San Antonio finished games last season with fewer shot attempts than their opponents way too often. It was a major reason they lost so many close games. Last night, the Spurs only took 77 shots to 97 for Phoenix. They had 19 turnovers to the Suns' 6 and outrebounded Phoenix 50-43, but allowed 11 offensive boards.
They got to the free-throw line, making 28-34, compared to 11-16 on the other side, so that accounts for some of the disparity. You're trading two points for three, though. The Suns hit 14-38 (37%) from deep compared to 10-34 (29%) for the Spurs. But much of the game came down to being outphysicaled, and that's some of what Mitch Johnson was hinting at in his postgame press conference.
Coach Johnson on the Spurs turning the ball over 19 times, compared to 6 times for the Suns: https://t.co/lW7zGRUaq3 pic.twitter.com/Tm11F7SfPZ
— Paul Garcia (@PaulGarciaNBA) November 24, 2025
Playing without physicality causes a domino effect
When the Spurs let themselves get pushed around, everything falls apart. Guys either play too fast or too slow because they're thinking too much. When you're overthinking, you aren't playing with any flow, and basketball requires that. There's a reason why fans love this sport. It's beautiful. There's an art form to good hoops, and when things are clicking, it's like watching poetry in motion.
Physical teams don't want you to play with rhythm. That's the whole point of the style—to disrupt. San Antonio played on their heels all of the second half. They were actually doing pretty well up until the third quarter began, entering the period up 56-49, despite neither team having the best offensive performance.
Thankfully, De'Aaron Fox continues to show that he's a stud, and the front office made the right decision when they brought him in to help this team. But we have to be clear about something. This team has been winning more games than they probably should, considering how many important players have missed time.
The Silver and Black have dominated fourth quarters, and their newfound ability to close is a significant reason why they're sitting in a top-six spot in the Western Conference. But they couldn't do that last night. Phoenix bludgeoned them after the break, scoring 37 points in the third set of 12 minutes alone. San Antonio only put up 24 points that quarter and couldn't recover after that.
The offense got bogged down, only generating eight assists the entire second half. That's a far cry from the Spurs basketball we've become accustomed to watching over the past two and a half decades. Ultimately, this team has played great basketball. They were coming off a three-game winning streak without several of their best players, but they aren't going to win every game.
There's no need to panic or anything, so don't read this like an alarm bell needs sounding. When everyone is back in uniform, the sky is still the limit for this team, and most analysts didn't think that was possible before the year kicked off. Last night was an ugly performance, though. If they're going to lose games, we'd prefer it didn't look like that.