Devin Vassell stepped to the microphone after the San Antonio Spurs’ 139-109 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night and described the moment as something he had waited years to feel.
“Sounds surreal, man. It sounds surreal,” Vassell said after the Spurs closed the second-round series in six games at Target Center. “So much time, effort, hard work put into this, these past six years and, you know, ending off the season every time in April and being disappointed and being frustrated and just wanting more.”
The Spurs are headed to the Western Conference finals for the first time in Vassell’s career, and he said the run feels different because of the way this team has grown together. “The feeling is, you can’t even really put it in words. I’m just excited. I’m super excited. I’m super grateful and blessed to be able to be in this position.”
San Antonio’s young core again powered the win, with Stephon Castle scoring 32 points and Victor Wembanyama adding 19 points, six rebounds and three blocks in a game the Spurs controlled from start to finish. Vassell said the group’s trust in the coaching staff and one another has been the difference.
“We’ve put in so much time, trusting Mitch and the plan that he had, trusting our coaching staff and everything that they put into these series and then just all of our teammates going out and executing and everything,” he said. “It didn’t matter whose night it was. Everybody was coming in and just playing as hard as they can and just trying to get a win.”
Vassell pointed to Wembanyama’s unselfishness as a key reason San Antonio’s offense has become so difficult to stop. “It’s contagious when you start with having Vic, the best basketball player in the world, who will pass the ball and be unselfish and it just trickles down,” Vassell said. “Everybody’s had great games and great moments in these series. It’s just surreal to be a part of.”
The guard also explained how his role has changed since the early part of his career, when he was asked to create more of the offense himself. “The roles are a lot different for sure, but whenever coach asks me to get a bucket or settle the team down or do something like that, I know he has all the trust in me because, like you said, I was in those positions years and years, so it’s it’s molded me into the player I am today.”
Vassell said he no longer feels pressure to force shots because the Spurs now have multiple creators who can attack from different spots. “We have so many great players who come in,” he said. “I don’t have to go out there and shoot 20 shots like I used to do.”
That balance has carried into the closing stretch of the postseason, where San Antonio has used spacing, downhill guards and switching defense to overwhelm opponents. Vassell said the Spurs are embracing what comes next against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“We’ve been looking forward to this,” he said. “We’ve played OKC in the regular season, and we know it’s nothing like what the playoffs is going to be. But we’re ready for it, and I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else.”
He closed with a simple message about the challenge ahead. “Nothing. We’re ready to see them on Monday,” Vassell said. “No matter what the score was that we had today, we’re ready to see them on Monday.”