Mikal Bridges on the drive. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.
The Knicks dug a huge 24-pt hole in the 1st half against the young, aggressive Spurs in San Antonio, then got busy and erased the deficit down to 8 pts within minutes in the 3rd — but were never able to climb out of the hole as Sandro Mamukelashvili — a 6’9 gunner from Seton Hall — went absolutely nuts on them in the 4th quarter.
Mamukelashvili came off the bench to go 13-14 from the floor including 7-7 from 3 for 34 points — and had an answer every time the Knicks got close in the 4th quarter.
Final Score: San Antonio 120 NY 105 on a Wednesday night in San Antonio.
“We knew this one was going to be tough; young, hungry team; plays fast obviously,” said Josh Hart afterwards. “We’ve had a tough schedule the last couple of weeks, going on the road for a week and a half, then go right into a back-to-back where we lose ours, so we knew it was going to be tough — we just weren’t there physically or mentally.”
“I think it was a combination of the ball not falling but also we have to make it easier for each other,” added Hart. “We have to play make for each other and put each other in good situations to be successful. We knew that would be the struggle without JB (Jalen Brunson), but we have to make the game easier for each other and we didn’t do that today.”
NY drops to 43-25; San Antonio improves to 29-39.
1. NY Couldn’t Hit Side of Barn in 1st Half (Except KAT & Mitch)
The Knick snipers Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Miles McBride and Josh Hart couldn’t hit the side of a barn in the 1st half — shooting a combined 3-24. The Knick offense was coming from Karl-Anthony Towns, who was 7-14 from the floor in the 1st half, and Mitchell Robinson, who was 3-3 from the floor — the two Knick centers going a a combined 10-17 for 25 pts.
Mitch making an instant impact 💪 pic.twitter.com/oHWCgpCL8c
— Knicks Fan TV 🏀🎥📺🏁 (@KnicksFanTv) March 20, 2025
The young, hungry Spurs forged a 67-43 halftime lead, led by Stephon Castle — the 6’6 guard who was the #4 pick in last June’s draft — who finished the game with 24 pts on 8-16 shooting.
San Antonio also starts 6’6 Devin Vassell (10 pts) — the #11 pick in the 2020 draft — in the backcourt along with Chris Paul (12 pts) in a 3-guard offense. With Victor Wembanyama out for the year, the Spurs start Harrison Barnes (11 pts) up front along with Jeremy Sochan (12 pts), the 6’9 forward who was the #9 pick in 2022.
2. Knicks Erase 24-Pt Deficit to 8 Pts in 3rd
And then the 3rd quarter started and the Knicks erased the 24-pt deficit down to 8 in a matter of minutes.
Mikal Bridges hit a drive,
Miles McBride hit a 3,
Bridges hit a drive-and-1 after a Stephon Castle score,
KAT hit a drive off a Josh Hart assist,
Hart hit a drive,
Bridges tipped in an offensive rebound off an OG miss,
Towns hit a 3 after a Vassell free throw,
Bodega cuts it to 13 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/4T1E6dMQHq
— Knicks Fan TV 🏀🎥📺🏁 (@KnicksFanTv) March 20, 2025
Anunoby hit a drive off a Bridges assist, and
Anunoby hit a 3.
San Antonio 73 NY 65 with 6:26 left in the quarter. Spurs Timeout.
The Knicks had sliced the lead by 16 points in 5 minutes.
The DOG makes it an 8-point game! pic.twitter.com/7BVWKxlm6m
— Knicks Fan TV 🏀🎥📺🏁 (@KnicksFanTv) March 20, 2025
But after the timeout, the Spurs regrouped — Vassell hit an 8-footer, Keldon Johnson scored inside, and Julian Champagnie hit a 3 and the Spurs were back up by 15 — 80-65.
The Knicks regrouped and made a second run — pulling to within 11 by the end of the quarter on scores by Miles McBride and Landry Shamet.
3. Mamukelashvili Goes NUTS in 4th
But in the 4th quarter, Sandro Mamukelashvili went NUTS.
He started the quarter with a drive, then a drive-and-1 and San Antonio was back up by 16 at 88-72.
Still the Knicks pushed back — pulling back to within 8 on an OG drive-and-1 followed by a Cameron Payne 3 — San Antonio 93 NY 85 with 7:29 left.
OG drops the hammer and cuts the Spurs’ lead to 12 🔨 pic.twitter.com/8Aq3X24TgG
— Knicks Fan TV 🏀🎥📺🏁 (@KnicksFanTv) March 20, 2025
But then:
Mamukelashvili hit a 3
Anunoby hit a 3
Mamukelashvili hit another 3. Spurs up by 11.
Incredible! 🌟
34 PTS, 9 REB
Most scored points in less than 20 minutes of action in @NBA history! pic.twitter.com/OkTcLZ4xLw
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) March 20, 2025
The Knicks pulled to within 9 with 4:15 left — but Sochan hit a drive, then fed Keldon Johnson for a 3 and it was good night NY — San Antonio with a 14-pt lead with 3:14 left.
Mamukelashvili wasn’t finished — down the stretch he hit a drive, another 3, another 3, and a dunk putting San Antonio up 17.
4. Who Is Mamukelashvili?
Mamukelashvili was born in NYC but moved to Tbilisi, Georgia (Russia) when he was a baby and grew up there. He is fluent in English, Georgian, Russian, and Italian. His mother played for the Soviet National Team. His aunt is noted pianist Eteri Andjaparidze. He moved to Italy when he was 14 and started playing competitive basketball. He moved back to the United States in 2016, where he played ball at Montverde Academy, with RJ Barrett.
Mamukelashvili went to college at Seton Hall and was a 2nd round pick (#54 overall) in the 2021 draft.
“Sandro Mamukelashvili is a skilled Big with some guard like skills, noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines back in October 2021. “He can stretch the floor pulling opposing Bigs from lane, close on him and can take you off the bounce and create for others. Also, can operate in the low post, rebounds, runs floor well and competes hard for the Bucks.”
Mamukelashvili is averaging 5.6 ppg off the bench for San Antonio this year, but as Ross Kreines put it: “Liked Sandro Mamukelashvii as shown below a few years ago for these reasons and he took full advantage of his minutes tonight. Stay ready, compete, play to your strengths and not only play your role but stay true to yourself .Never stop working or believing and always compete hard.”
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705569