The San Antonio Spurs barely broke a sweat in their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday at the FedExForum as they ran away with a lopsided 123-98 victory.
The Spurs demonstrated their strength from the beginning, defeating the Grizzlies 38-19. From there it was just a formality. San Antonio won its seventh consecutive game and improved to 55–18.
The Spurs also secured homecourt advantage in the first round, returning to the playoffs after a six-year absence.
San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson acknowledged this significant gainBut as Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News reported, he also remained quiet about it.
Johnson said, "I would expect it to be loud with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. But it's still a little bit away, so hopefully we can keep getting better and make some improvements in a lot of areas."
mitch johnson on #spurs Gaining home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs:
"I would expect it to be louder, with a lot more excitement, enthusiasm. But it's still a little bit away, so hopefully we can keep getting better and make some improvements in a lot of areas."
- Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) 26 March 2026
The 39-year-old Johnson is in his first full season with the Spurs after taking over from Gregg Popovich. He has big shoes to fill, but clearly, he's up for the challenge.
He has molded the team into a two-way force. They have guys like Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Cassel, De'Aaron Fox and Devin Vassell playing comfortably, while finding the right role for Keldon Johnson and utilizing Dylan Harper off the bench.
The last time the Spurs were in the playoffs in 2020, Johnson was still an unknown deputy to Popovich. But the seeds were being sown, and because of his deep knowledge of the game and inherent leadership, it was only a matter of time until he was tapped to have a shot.
Now, Johnson and the Spurs are on their way to success.
