Spurs’ Devin Vassell dropped a truth bomb on the NBA Cup bracket win

Borrowing a term usually reserved for international soccer, the title of “Group of Death” fell to Group C of the Western Conference. NBA Cup. The San Antonio Spurs won the pool that included Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets. That they reached the quarter-finals of the knockout stage from a division where three of the other four teams are expected to make the play-offs was not lost on the Spurs full-back Devin Vassell.

“This is huge. Whether people want to play it down or not, we were in the toughest group,” said the 11th pick in the 2020 draft.

Vassell went into detailgiven that San Antonio has been denied at the highest levels.

“To come out, it shows (though) we don’t have Steph (Stehon Castle), we don’t have Vic (Victor Vembanjama), and we just got Harper (Derek Harper) back. Just the resiliency of the team, everybody stepping up, everybody coming in and getting big minutes.”

Victor Wembanyama has not played since the November 14 Group C loss to the Warriors. Reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle played in the next game after that, but hasn’t seen the field since. When Harper returned to the lineup in a Nov. 26 win at Portland, Oregon, it was his first action since Nov. 2.

Spurs won NBA Cup C despite injuries

The silver and black have actually been dealing with injuries since the start of the season. De’Aaron Fox missed the team’s first eight games. Rotational players Luke Cornett, Jeremy Sochan and Kelly Olynyk missed several games.

“Lindy (Waters), Jeremy, I think I could take a turn,” Vassell continued of the contributions they’re getting. “It was Carter (Bryant), everybody that came in, everybody had an impact. So that’s huge. This group hasn’t played in a big game like that. And, I feel like these last two games were big games and we were all able to step up.”

A perennial powerhouse this season The Spurs have good reason to believe they will make the playoffs for the first time since 2019. That recent win against the Blazers kept them in the hunt to win Group C. The triumph in Denver, Colorado represented a winner-take-all scenario in the toughest division of the NBA Cup.

“To lose two of our big players and Fox didn’t start the season and Harp was out for a while, it was really a show. I mean, everybody stepped up. Whenever their number was called, everybody stepped up, and they were ready. It just shows the depth we have on this team.”

Vassell scored a season-high 35 points in a 139-136 win over the Nuggets. Player Julian Champagne added 25 points, while Keldon Johnson scored 15 and the team’s leading scorer during this short time, Foxincluded in the 14. The Spurs are likely to head into the Cup quarterfinals against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 10 without Wembanyama. The castle may also not be available.

Vasell still likes Spurs’ chances.

“We’re a deep team, man. And it’s exciting to think we’re just scratching the surface.”