San Antonio Spurs Celebrate 'Big-Time' Win Over Denver Nuggets

The San Antonio Spurs took down the (previously) top-seeded Denver Nuggets in dramatic fashion.

Apr 12, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) and teammates celebrate after beating the Denver Nuggets / Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

The San Antonio Spurs are no longer in last place in the Western Conference, and the Denver Nuggets are no longer in first. After the Spurs beat Denver 121-120, the Nuggets fell to third place and the Spurs jumped over the Portland Trail Blazers for 14th place.

Small victories matter.

The Spurs trailed by as much as 23 points to the defending champions, but Victor Wembanyama scored 17 points in the third quarter, and efforts from Julian Champagnie, Tre Jones, and Sandro Mamukelashvili made Devontae' Graham's last-second shot possible.

Apr 12, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) reacts after beating the Denver Nuggets / Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

After the game, the Spurs gave themselves a well-deserved pat on the back for besting Denver for the first time this season. "A lot of people played well," said Gregg Popovich. "Zach played well. Victor is Victor. He did a lot of good things, but it couldn't happen without everybody else doing what they did out there. Sandro was awesome. So you just go right down the line. Everybody contributed. They deserve it. They should all go get a beer or a Coke whatever they do."

Wembanyama admitted that the win meant more than it probably should have given that the Spurs' season is effectively over. "We're going to any win but big-time wins against big teams, first seeds," he emphasized. "We're going to need those in the future.”

As the Spurs look forward to a brighter future, playing "ruiner" for Denver and Nikola Jokic (does an MVP lose a 23-point lead to the Spurs?) is a sign of things to come. Down the stretch, the Spurs kept their poise and were able to stay organized despite having only a skeleton crew available.