The Pelicans provided a much tougher test for the Silver and Black tonight than the poorly constructed roster of the Mavericks on Wednesday. The combination of elite shooting and ball movement kept the Spurs defense off balance as the home crowd kept the environment hostile for the Spurs. It was a good learning experience for the young Spurs, who hadn’t been challenged in their first game. It was a foul fest, with Keldon Johnson fouling out early in the fourth quarter and Victor Wembanyama fouling out in the first minute of overtime. The Silver and Black took control for most of the OT period, and managed to survive a shaky final moment because of the 8 point lead they were able to gain earlier, and Harrison Barnes iced the final score by hitting a pair of free throws to keep the Pelicans from somehow forcing a second overtime.
The Spurs made a lot of mistakes this game, but they also did enough good things to grind out a win against a talented team in a hostile arena. Wembanyama was incredible, but the rest of the team stepped up in overtime after he was disqualified with his sixth foul. Stephon Castle had some great plays and also some bad moments, but the good outweighed the bad, and he’ll learn from his mistakes, and hopefully improve his free throw shooting. Just about everybody on the Spurs stepped up at times, Vassell with timely scoring, Harper by taking over in the fourth when the team needed to overcome the Pelicans surge, and Luke Kornet when he had to play as the lone big with Wemby was resting.
As for the Pelicans, they are going to be tough this year. Zion Williamson is the best version of himself this year, Trey Murphy III can fill up the basket, and the rest of the team is really talented. Their draft picks Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears are both really good, and they look like a playoff team, even in the talent-packed west. There are no pushovers in the Western Conference.
The Spurs are undefeated in the 2025-2026 NBA season. I mean, it’s only two games, but it’s hard not to overreact and think that they’re world beaters now. On Sunday, they take on the Brooklyn Nets in their first home game of the season with an early 1:00 PM tipoff. If the Spurs are going to have a let down, this kind of get-back game with an early start would be the time. It’s going to be interesting to see if Coach Mitch is going to have his guys locked in, or to see if they get complacent with the tiny taste of success that they’ve been able to experience just two games into the season.