The Spurs sure love hosting the Knicks in March. Last season on March 29, Victor Wembanyama had a 40-20 game to help outlast Jalen Brunson’s 61-point effort for a thrilling overtime win. This year, both stars were out for the game, but it was still just as fun. The Spurs got out big in the first half, leading by as much as 28, then held on in the second, countering a 32-point outing from Karl-Anthony Towns with a career-high 34 points on 13-14 shooting, 7-7 from three, from none other than Sandro Mamukelashvili for the 120-105 win.
KAT scored the first 9 points for the Knicks, but the Spurs had responses each time before pulling ahead, with Harrison Barnes scoring 10 of their first 15 points. Soon, the Spurs had gone on a 16-1 run to get up 23-10 as Chris Paul scored 8 straight points himself. The offense went a little cold as the bench came in, but the Spurs still led 29-20 at the end of the quarter thanks to holding the Knicks to just 27% shooting, with Mitchell Robinson being the only other Knick to score a field goal besides KAT, who had 13 points.
KAT was still hot to start the second quarter, scoring the Knicks first 8 points, including 2 free throws for two three-second violations on the same possession (thanks, Ed Malloy), but Blake Wesley and Mamu brought some energy to help keep the Spurs ahead. After the Knicks had gotten within 4 at 31-35, the Spurs exploded for a 23-2 run, including 8 straight points from Mamu with two threes and a dunk. At one point, KAT hurt his hand and tried to tough it out after briefly leaving to get it taped, and after leading by as much as 28, the Spurs were up 67-43 at the break.
Stephon Castle, who quietly had 12 points in the first half, scored the Spurs’ first five points of the second half, but otherwise the Spurs struggled to score and take care of the ball while the Knicks had been on a 22-6 run by midway through the third quarter (or what we have come to know as the turd quarter). Fortunately, the Spurs woke up after a timeout, upping their defensive effort and scoring the next 10 points to get the lead back to 18. The Knicks then scored the final seven to complete the streaky quarter with the Spurs up 83-75.
Then, it was Mamu Mania again to start the fourth quarter with a driving layup and and-1 in transition for their first five points before assisting Castle for a long three to get the lead back to 18. The Knicks again responded with a 10-0 run while the Spurs went through another sloppy stretch, but it was Mamu to the rescue once again with two straight threes and finding Sochan wide open under the basket after he attracted all of the Knicks’ defenders. The lead continued to hover around 10 for a while before the Spurs finally busted the game open with a Keldon Johnson banked in a three and little more Mamu Mania to seal the deal in one of the more fun games of the season.
### Game Notes
* Jeremy Sochan got the start over Bismack Biyombo, and it seemed like the plan was for him to stay on KAT, whether it was down in the post or out on the perimeter. On the rare occasions that Towns subbed in when Sochan was out, Mitch Johnson subbed him back in. Obviously Sochan is not a natural center and can only hang so much with a player of KAT’s size and ability, but he did about as well as could have been expected, and because the Spurs were able to limit everyone else, his big scoring game had less impact. It will be interesting to see if Sochan continues to start going forward (my vote would be yes), or if this was purely a match-up move.
* This game was more in line with what the Spurs want to see from Blake Wesley. Even though he was only 2-5 from the field for six points, he was the spark plug the Spurs need on defense with three big steals. He also had 2 rebounds and 3 assists (to just 1 turnover) in 16 minutes for a well rounded night where the positives far out-weighed the few negatives.
* All five scorers scored in double-digits, led by Castle’s 22 points. While the other four “only” combined for 43 points, they all had their moments of contribution. Barnes and Paul carried the Spurs in the first quarter, Sochan did a little of everything on both ends in 38 minutes of action, and while Devin Vassell didn’t have a great shooting night, he continued his good stretch of play on defense and got timely buckets when the Spurs needed it (before rightfully deferring to the red hot Mamu late). The more balanced the Spurs’ attack, the better off they are.
* Just going to leave this here, and mind you, this was all in just 19 minutes of action:
> Now the only player in NBA history to have a game with 30+ points, 8+ rebounds and 5+ three-pointers while shooting 90% from the floor:
>
> Sandro Mamukelashvili
>
> — Jordan Howenstine (@AirlessJordan) [March 20, 2025](https://twitter.com/AirlessJordan/status/1902545574684926217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
### Play of the Game
You can pick practically any Mamu play, but we’ll go with this pump fake from three and drive for the dunk, which helped spark the Spurs in the fourth quarter while kicking off a 16-point quarter for him, assuring they weren't going to blow this one.
### Up next: Friday vs. Philadelphia 76ers
The Spurs will have a good chance at two in a row against a tanking 76ers squad that has shut down its stars (and will lose their pick to OKC if it doesn’t fall in the top 6). Tip-off will be at 7:00 PM CT on FanDuel Sports.