Mitch Johnson’s 11-game winning streak goes straight

Only the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 16-game winning streak — which is San Antonio Spurs finished — it’s been longer than in a period of 11 victories for the silver and black until February. Mitch Johnson, however, looks beyond the streak.

“I think it’s a sign of growth for a team that, at a certain point, we were probably with that momentum. I think earlier in the season our highs were really high, but we’ve been trying to continue to figure out that consistency,” the head coach said. “And I think it’s been fun this month to have some struggles; either some teams or circumstances have forced us to find different ways to win.”

What is considered a nine-game winning streak (they lost on New York Knicks in the NBA Cup Finals in the middle of that stretch) that included three wins against the Thunder from early to late December led the Spurs to the second-best record in the West. Save for maybe a night or two when they got in a moment with the team directly behind them, the silver and black have basically stayed there ever since.

“I feel like the guys in that locker room have found a lot of different ways to win, and that seems to be a sign of growth,” Johnson said.

During their current hot streak, while the Spurs haven’t had the number of quality wins they recorded earlier in the season, they haven’t fallen into any traps. Not to mention their win over the Detroit Pistons registered as one of their most impressive of the year.

“I think when you look back at this month, there hasn’t been one guy that’s gone through a historic stretch or a certain way that we’ve won every night. I think we’ve played a lot of different styles of teams. And the games we’ve played this month have taken on a lot of different personalities,” Johnson added. “We had some guys that had their night, so to speak. And we had some guys that didn’t have their night in terms of getting the ball in and things going right.”

Players love it Devin Vassell and Julian Champagnie played very well to close out February. And while Victor Vembanyama leads the wayThe Spurs are also deep in star power. The roster includes two-time reigning NBA All-Star De’Aaron Fox Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle and last summer’s No. 2 pick, Dylan Harper.

Asked if he’s been able to stick through this stretch — and, indeed, the entire season — Johnson didn’t hesitate.

“No, but I enjoy working with them. So it’s a fun balance between being angry and enjoying everything at the same time.”

In his first official season as Spurs coach, Johnson leads the team to what looks to be the organization’s best campaign since 2016-17, when they advanced to the Western Conference Finals — with signs that this group could match the best years produced by the five-time NBA champion franchise.