The Top 5 most surprising performances by Spurs role players

4. San Antonio Spurs – Dewayne Dedmon (2017)

With Pau Gasol out due to a hand injury, the Spurs called upon Dewayne Dedmon to contend with Detroit Pistons rebounding machine Andre Drummond in 2017. By the end of the night, he would prove he was more than up to the task.

Despite facing a Pistons team that was fourth-best in the NBA in rebounding, Dedmon pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds, a mark he’s never reached again since. Of those boards, five were offensive, allowing San Antonio some extra possessions in a 103-92 win. The seven-footer also shot 8-for-10 from the field to score a matching 17 points.

Dedmon did a serviceable job as a backup center and occasional starter for the Spurs in 2017, eventually earning a contract with the Atlanta Hawks the following season.

3. San Antonio Spurs – Charles Smith  (2002)

Now this one is old school. In fact, this game happened in the final year the Spurs logo had the iconic pink, orange and teal fiesta colors that have been so popular as a retro throwback this season. In 2002, the Sacramento Kings had their deepest playoff run since their Kansas City days.

With a loaded roster comprising of Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic, Vlade Divac, and Hedo Turkoglu, the Kings had won 40 of their first 53 games heading into San Antonio to face the Spurs. Little did they know, Charles Smith was about to have the game of his life.

Smith could not be stopped on this night, scoring 32 points on 13-of-20 from the field and 4-of-5 from downtown. Malik Rose also had a stellar game off the bench, scoring 23 points and pulling down eight boards. On an extremely rare night in which Tim Duncan scored in single digits with nine, Smith and Rose had his back. San Antonio won comfortably, 115-92.

Charles Smith was a career 5.1 points-per-game scorer and only played in 60 games for the Spurs, making this performance a surprise. Still, there were six other occasions in which he scored 19 or more that season, so it wasn’t a total shock.