... anything to the substitution patterns there.

That, that's an excellent point, and it, and I think it may have it root- its roots back in the Oklahoma City series.

I forget which game, but they got out to a big early lead, and Mitch took, he took, um, Wemby out earlier than usual in the first period, substituted.

I think Oklahoma City came back and won that game.

And, and to me, the whole thing, his whole thinking with this one, with playing Wemby so much was, you know, it was an aggressive, very aggressive mindset, and I think they kept jacking up those threes-

What, what's the mood? What's the vibe? What are you looking for to, to, to, to, to tell you that this one's gonna be different, that they're gonna be able to hold on in the Frost Bank Center?

Man, just play smart.

Play smart, and, um, you know, rely on what got you here.

Did, did, was there a breakthrough in game three that can carry over, or was there anything specific that can turn the series around, or are we just gonna start all over again on game four on Wednesday and see what happens?

I think so.

I think there is momentum.

They, they solved some things.

You know, they struggled with ball movement and, and, um, you know, just, uh, being decisive and aggressive and with their actions, and we saw that in, uh, game three, um, you know, nearly 30 assists after averaging 22 per game over the first two, first two contests.

And I think having ...

I don't know, what did they have in that first, first game, 14 or so? [laughs]

Tom?

Yeah.

Um, the Spurs, you know, to their credit, to the credit of, uh, De'Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper, they, they weathered it pretty well.

And Fox has played, in, in the two games he's come back since that ankle injury, he's played pretty well.

Led the team in rebounds last night on one bad leg.

Um, but now you've got AJ Mitchell with a calf injury, which is no laughing matter of course, and Jalen Williams with that hamstring injury that's bothered him all playoffs and pretty much all season.

So yeah, the, like I said, the injury doom and gloom has shifted also.

And, um, having guys like that on your team is how you win the Western Conference and go to the NBA Finals.

Yeah, that, that sequence in the first quarter, they go up 21-8 on this, on this sequence.

Um, are, are, are we too much a prisoner of the moment, Tom, or was that as momentous as it seemed?

Yeah, I mean, there are so many moments frozen in time.

The, the deeper than logo three pointer by Wemby.

Uh, man, that's, uh ...

So many memories are gonna be, uh, uh, were made by that shot.

I mean, people, people watching that game, kids are gonna cherish that moment for, for a long time.

Uh, Devin's block of, um, Chet Holmgren at the rim with about 40 seconds left in the, in the second overtime was huge.

Whoa

What, what, what did he mean by that?

Well, he, uh, Steph's contention is that they, they contested all his shots, that they, you know, they did what they've been doing, throwing traps at him, that they defended him pretty well.

But, but you know, you throw up your hands at some point, what are you gonna do with the guy? I mean, he's, he's tough.

He's damn tough.

And, um, you know, they, he penetrated last night after Wemy went out.

They all got into the paint, um, that was a big problem.

So yeah, and, and he was playing for Mother's Day.

Did you just come up with that?

So is there an upside to this?

Man, you know, you look back at it, they did so much right in those last three minutes.

They're down by nine with three.

They didn't panic.

They chipped away at it.

Devin gets the steal, advance, inbound pass.

And, you know, that would have gone down in Spurs lore if they had been able to pull it out.

Any answers to those questions?

[laughs]

You know, yeah, the weekend just really underscored the depth, the incredible depth of this team.

I mean, Friday night, Dylan Harper, you know, 27 points.

Steph Castle, 33 points.

Carter Bryant chipping in.

Devin Vassell chipping in.

And then we ca- we get Wemby back on Sunday.

... really impressed so far.