SAN ANTONIO — It was Wednesday night at the Frost Bank Center, and the Spurs were holding their own against the Orlando Magic until, all of a sudden, they weren't.
As has happened many times before this season, the third quarter arrived, bringing with it the worst basketball this young 10-38 team can muster. They gave the ball away, missed every shot and surrendered a 17-0 run that seemed like a death blow as San Antonio fell behind by as many as 25.
Nobody could blame a fan who decided to bail early, beat the traffic and get to bed at a decent hour before work or school in the morning. Especially in a season where disappointment has become the norm, why voluntarily stay until the end of a basketball game that had begun to feel more like the latest repetition of the kind of ongoing punishment that you'd find in Greek mythology if somebody upset the basketball gods?
Most of the 17,081 in attendance stayed, though. They kept cheering, too, and then something funny happened.
Their team roared back.
Blake Wesley provided a spark off the bench in the final few minutes of the third, chipping away at an seemingly insurmountable lead with some defense and transition scoring.
"We were down 22 and Blake got a steal and it sounds like we were up 22. It’s huge," said Devin Vassell after the game. "The fans are always encouraging—no matter the score, no matter the record, no matter what it is. That's huge for us."
San Antonio was down 18 with under eight minutes to play, but for the first time all game shots had started falling for the home team. Each make and each stop cranked the volume up a notch over the next four minutes, and the Spurs rattled off a 15-0 run.
"As soon as we just made a couple plays, you could feel the momentum shifting and it was because of our crowd for sure," said Tre Jones. "As far as our team goes, we gotta keep keep the energy. Obviously we've been on a little crazy schedule here. We're playing four games a week and back-to-backs on the weekends, so it's been crazy. You could definitely get tired at times, but we've got to be able to just dig deep in those moments. Be able to lift each other up and be there for each other and (keep) each other going."
Fans really can't tangibly do much to help their favorite team win, but those on the court say they can feel the fanatical and unconditional support from the stands.
"It definitely gets us going and helps with that momentum," said star rookie Victor Wembanyama. "That's why it's good to play at home. I mean, people could have left when we were down 25, but they believe in us as much as we believe in ourselves."
"The fans have been just awesome," said head coach Gregg Popovich. "The Minnesota game I don't think we win that game without them pumping us up and getting excited the way they did. You can hear them tonight… when we went down they stuck with us and then they had a good time when we got back in it. It was good night."
That game against the Timberwolves was probably San Antonio's best of the season, completing a 15-point comeback to knock off one of the best teams in the West. They trailed from the first quarter into the fourth, but rode the wave of momentum and won the final stanza 33-22.
Pop always talks about the "sticktuitivieness" required to keep playing the right way for 48 minutes, even when the shots aren't falling. Even when they're tired.
It doesn't always end in a win, and the comeback bid against Orlando fell short as the execution faltered late. But more and more, this inexperienced Spurs team is giving the San Antonio faithful good reasons to stay – and cheer – until the final buzzer.
"Like I always say: We're a young team and we need all the support that we can get," Vassell said. "For them to keep coming out each night and showing support is huge for us."