Harrison Barnes subbed in for Victor Wembanyama with 11:07 remaining in the second quarter of the San Antonio Spurs'road win over the Dallas Mavericks. Wembanyama had played just 53 seconds of the period, missing his only field goal attempt.

While Wembanyama was out, the Mavericks embarked on a 12-4 run that prompted Johnson to reinsert his star with 7:12 remaining. Within the next three minutes, Wembanyama logged seven points, one block, one rebound and one assist. He looked motivated.

Wembanyama and Mitch Johnson had different stories of the interaction when asked about the peculiar change to the rotation. The Frenchman blamed a sideline miscommunication.

"I pointed at Mitch intensely," Wembanyama began, "because I was wondering what kind of defense we were in. And I think he understood that (as) I wanted a sub."

Johnson, who spoke first, didn't have a chance to address Wembanyama's explanation. His own account, however, suggested the substitution may have been more deliberate.

"I mean, it was a second night of back-to-back," Johnson said, "so, there was a little bit of mindful minutes ... (but) we've just all got to be better. We've got to make sure we're putting our energy into the right stuff ... we've got to play like our hair's on fire."

Whether Johnson intended to send Wembanyama a message remains unclear — he likely won't be asked about it again. But what isn't disputed is how the 7-foot-4 center responded after returning to the floor. That exemplified Johnson's broader intent on Saturday.

The Spurs earned their first win of the season over the depleted Mavericks, 122-106. Inside the visiting locker room at American Airlines Center, you wouldn't have known.

"If you were in there, you would have thought we lost the game," De'Aaron Fox said.

Finding chemistry takes time. Johnson understands that. But some of San Antonio's early struggles have extended beyond unfamiliar rotations and offensive execution.

"Our floor right now is way too low," Johnson said.

The coach wasn't particularly interested in sugarcoating his assessment, either.

"Effort goes a long way," Johnson explained. "As simple as it sounds and as talented as these guys are, consistent effort with just a little bit of togetherness and execution can really be something to grow and build upon ... we just have not been consistent enough."

Full article is here: https://www.si.com/nba/spurs/onsi/way-too-low-after-3-games-mitch-johnson-wants-san-antonio-spurs-to-play-with-hair-on-fire

🍾 makes it rain.

👽 block party. 🚫

Unc still got it.

Dude has been looking like the stud veteran we paid for this season so far. Seems fully healthy and out to prove something.

edit: somebody sent me a "Reddit Cares" suicide prevention notice, no doubt from this post lol. Just goes to show the Fox haters really are trolls. I bet most that post here are actually Thunder and Knicks fans just looking to stir the shit.

protect ya neck HB!

I’m so thankful Philly didn’t give this man a chance. So grateful for this man.

80 PTS, 23 AST, 13 3PM in the 1st Half

All highs for a team in a half so far this season. And 8 of those 3s belonged to Jules! 🤩

Whole team played great, and even Tarris Reed Jr. got some nice work in the last few minutes! 🤘🏻

More of this, please! 🙏🏻🙌🏻

Honestly suits him given the fact that from he is only 4 steps from the basket at any given time on the opponents half

Who in the spurs organization can we write to complain about the DAZN bullshit?

Do you think it will do any good if 10k people wrote to them? Do we need a petition?

It’s some bullshit

Topics discussed: his first NBA bucket, his hometown (St. Louis), how he got his nickname “The Bear” and how the Spurs can beat the Kings tonight! @TarrisReedJr @spurs

🇫🇷: You spoke before the start of the season about developing your isolation game. You've played four games, so it's still very early, but how would you assess your progress so far? Are you feeling more comfortable with certain moves? How are you feeling?

👽: I'd say that in just four games, I've already had the chance to see what works and what doesn't, what I've tried and what I haven't explored yet. And I'm getting closer, I'm getting closer.

I'm trying to cut down on the number of moves I use so I can get better at certain things. At my level, it's about putting in the work and repeating one move a thousand times rather than doing a thousand different moves just once.

I know exactly what works and what doesn't. And as we were saying, what works often comes down to keeping things simple. It's about reading the defense and not rushing. It's about having a plan, knowing what I'm going to do, and reading the game. When you're learning new things, it's easy to try to force them into your game at all costs, even when the situation simply isn't right for them.

"Bruce Lee fears the man who has repeated one kick 1,000 times, and not 1,000 different kicks once"

It fucking sucks, that's it.

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PNR Engine - Opening the game on a Pick-n-roll alley oop the Spurs were feasting with the PNR combos with Wemby. Every starter not named Wemby have 5+ assists including 8 from Devin Vassell. The simple idea of throw it up and Vic will grab was true tonight and it was a blast. Especially when you're going up against a Kings defense that most likely will finish bottom of the league. If San Antonio can start making this work against talented defenses it's going to be a struggle for the rest of the league.

Vassell & Champagnie are the Key - While the Spurs were getting solid looks in the previous games, they were failing to capitalize on their outside shot. Against the Kings this wasn't the case. The two wings went a combined 12-20 (60%) from deep for 40 points from deep alone. The trick is to drive with your guards and Wemby to free up the shooters for easy looks to punish teams. Overall the Spurs were hitting their outside shots going 17-37 (46%) from behind the arch.

Disciplined Ball Movement - The Spurs went 23-4 in assists to turnovers in the first half, dishing the ball around without giving it up. As mentioned before, four out of the five starters finished with 5+ assists with 35 as a team for the entire game. 29 fastbreak points makes like super easy when you're converting the defensive stops.

Wemby Kept it Simple - Compared to the previous three games, Wembanyama was in his zone tonight. 29 points on 14-21 shooting with 10 rebounds and 5 blocks is what you expect from the alien. Despite the continuing struggles from outside, he was punishing the Kings with his length especially in transition off the lob. No turnovers and no fouls is just a cherry on top. Living off cuts and lobs off the roll is going to be how he maximizes his offensive efforts. The shot selection needs to be cleaned up but as long as he's around the rim something good can happen. I was concerned about the Sabonis post-ups early where Wemby wasn't getting stops, but that got cleaned up in the second half. Wemby keeping his lengthy arms up and standing his ground resulted in one of the easiest blocks of the season so far.

Tarris Reed Rebounding Machine - He only played five minutes in garbage time, but Reed keeps standing out. He somehow grabbed 5 rebounds with 4 points with a +5. There's going to be times where Kornet struggles and I'm confident that Reed can handle those minutes whenever he's thrown out there. It's not a matter of if Reed takes Kornet's minutes, but when.

What are your takeaways in the blow out?